The Sydrian Shuffle
by Lacrimosa Cruentus Luna
Summary: A collection of one-shots, all prompts being songs that show up when I hit shuffle on my iPod. Most, if not all, of them will be post-Bloodlines  and now post-The Golden Lily , so there might be spoilers.
1. Lazy Eye

After lending it out and not having it for about two months, I finally got my copy of Bloodlines back! I've reread it three times since then. Now that I'm on number four, I think it's time I put my obsession into fandom. The length, genre, timeline, and basically everything else about these one-shots will be entirely inconsistent. That's just how my brain works. Anyway, let's get this party started :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Bloodlines. Not even a little bit.

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><p><strong>Prompt One: Lazy Eye by Silversun Pickups<strong>

_And this "real"_

_It's impossible if possible_

_At who's blind word_

_So unclear but so unheard_

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><p>"Give it to me hard, Sage." Adrian's eyes were determined, blazing a brilliant green. Sydney was nothing but happy to comply. Or at least she would have been if not for the fact the piece of art she was supposed to be critiquing...was a painting of her.<p>

This, unfortunately, made her somewhat biased. Besides, it was really good. Sydney cocked her head to the side, as if looking at it from another angle might reveal a flaw she had somehow missed while looking at it like a normal person would.

He had captured her well, although Sydney thought he had made her look almost angelic, something she most certainly was not no matter how hard she tried. But the shades of brown and gold were exquisite...not to mention he had gotten every detail of her golden lily tattoo exactly right.

He better have, she thought to herself wryly, since she'd sat perfectly still for ages. Her neck still ached from it and she had denied Adrian's multiple offers to massage the kinks out. Being painted by an evil creature of the night was bad enough. She didn't want the hands of one—no matter how skilled those hands might be—exploring her skin. Not that he would be, Sydney thought forcefully. But that wasn't the point.

The point was that she was still wondering why she had let him paint her in the first place.

It might have been his eyes. The soulful depth and way they seemed to melt as he pleaded with her. His eyes could work wonders with a single glance, no compulsion necessary. Or maybe it had been his words. His sweet, sweet words.

"You're perfect!" Adrian had insisted, making Sydney blush slightly. Eventually, she'd caved and the brilliant smile she'd been rewarded with made her feel like it was worth it—but just for a moment. Then she'd snapped to her senses and reminded herself that no matter how attractive his smile was, if it was just a bit wider, she might have seen his fangs.

Back in the present moment, Sydney studied Adrian's newest project. There had to be _something_ about it for her to say...and then she noticed it.

"I look like I have a lazy eye," Sydney observed.

"Are you kidding me?" Adrian asked incredulously.

"You said you could take a punch," Sydney reminded him. It wasn't exactly what he said, but it was essentially the same thing. Either way, Adrian had no witty comeback for her words and it took Sydney a moment to realize it was because Adrian was staring so intently at his masterpiece that it was very possible he hadn't heard her at all.

"This portrait," Adrian said after some deep thinking, "looks _exactly_ like you."

"Except for the lazy eye," Sydney said. Adrian sent a sly look her way, a look that was playful, wicked, mocking, and strangely intense all at the same time. But Sydney understood his silent implication. She didn't worry about the fact that they were so strangely in sync that they could share words with only one meeting of the eyes. She was too busy trying to find something to toss at him, not half as insulted at the lazy eye joke as she really ought to be. She was, however, insulted enough to not find his lazy grin as appealing as usual.

Once Sydney grabbed hold of something solid—which later turned out to be the hideous pillow Jill had made in her sewing class—she sent it hurling Adrian's way. She missed by about a foot, much her companion's amusement. He actually chuckled. Sydney crossed her arms and let out a low grumble, a reaction that no one else could have possible pulled out of her. Ever. This didn't worry her either, or at least not as much as it once would have. She'd gotten used to it by now. There was no one around to call her out on it and drag her to a re-education center which only furthered to ease her concerns.

His eyes still twinkling, Adrian turned to his portrait of Sydney. He crossed his arms and studied it thoughtfully once again.

"A lazy eye?" he said. "Really? Because I don't see it."

"You have to turn your head about eighty degrees to the left," Sydney told him. He shot her a look of disbelief.

"Well, _of __course_ you're going to look like you have a lazy eye if you look at it from the wrong angle!" he exclaimed.

"Don't you have to show this off at a gallery?" Sydney inquired.

"Yeah. So?"

"So what if someone who comes had a stroke and ended up with their neck permanently tilted eighty degrees to the left?"

"Sage?" Adrian asked slowly, cautiously. "Did you just make a joke?"

"Of course not," Sydney said with far too much innocence as far as Adrian was concerned.

"Well now," he said, pleased. "I think I might be rubbing off on you."

"You say that like it's a good thing."

Adrian rubbed his hands together and grinned. "There it is," he said. Sydney eyed him dryly for a moment.

"I need to go," she told him. "Curfew." Besides that, she was getting the uncomfortable feeling that Adrian's smartass nature really _was_ rubbing off on her and she hoped that some space from him might cure that.

"'Bye, Sage," Adrian said just as she opened the door. Before she closed it behind her, he called, "Don't change too much while you're gone! I like you just the way you are!"

Sydney tried not to read too much into his words as she made her way to her beloved Latte. She opened the car door and climbed inside. As the engine rumbled softly to life, she muttered irritably, if not slightly randomly, "I do _not_ have a lazy eye."

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><p>Kewl. Review?<p> 


	2. Sweet Dreams Are Made of This

I'm baaaaaacckkk! It's funny, this the perfect song for Adrian...but I'm not going to use it the way people would immediately assume it would be used. I'm going to use it in the spirit of Halloween! Yay!

Disclaimer: Nothing's mine. It all belongs to Richelle Mead.

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><p><strong>Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) by Marilyn Manson<strong>

_Some of them want to use you  
>Some of them want to get used by you<br>Some of them want to abuse you  
>Some of them want to be abused<em>

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><p>Adrian cringed as he looked around Amberwood Prep. He had assumed that prestigious schools like this were above fake spider webs and bat ornaments. He'd been positive that this was going to be the one place he could walk around without being afraid of a rubber corpse popping out at him, without recorded shrieks of horror ripping into his heightened hearing. So you can imagine his disappointment when he arrived at the school his "relatives" attended and found that it practically oozed with Halloween spirit—also known as Adrian's worst nightmare.<p>

Yes, okay, so maybe it was a little bit ridiculous that a vampire was scared of all things that had to do with Halloween, but it wasn't Adrian's fault. When he was ten, his parents took him to a haunted maze where a zombie clown with a chainsaw had chased him all the way to the exit. Ever since then...

Adrian shuddered, both with shame and fear. If anyone he knew had the right to be cowering under the blankets this time of year, it would be Sydney. His mood brightened considerably. He could go find her and either tease her to cover up his own fear or commiserate with her for the whole night, all depending on just how scared the Alchemist was. Now all he had to do was break away from Eddie, Micah, Angeline, and Jailbait.

It was getting harder to hide his terror, especially since Eddie was dressed as—you guessed it—a zombie clown. Jill, on the other hand, was a princess, decked out in a shimmering gown of white and pink. It was a little bit ironic to hear Micah (who looked simply _dashing_ as Captain America, Adrian thought with a small smirk) teasingly call her Princess Melrose. He would never know how close to the truth he was getting, nor did he notice the flickers of darkness that passed across Jill's jade eyes at the word "princess."

Angeline's costume had to be the most amusing of all: she was an angel, complete with the halo and feathery wings. Adrian hadn't had much to do with the young dhampir—she reminded him far too much of Rose—but so far he'd seen no proof that she was in any way angelical, contrary to her name.

"So, where's Sydney?" Adrian asked casually, barely holding back a whimper when, to his left, a motion-sensor-activated severed head released a loud scream of agony.

"Her friends dragged her away," Jill said unhappily.

"By 'friends' I trust you mean books, right?" said Adrian. Eddie snorted, but shook his head.

"No, they're real," he said. "Kristin and Julia. And I think I saw Trey with them, too. They're probably still in the West cafeteria."

"I'll just be on my way then," Adrian told them, even as he started to slip away. "It's my brotherly duty to meet this Trey person."

It was a half-truth. Well, more like a quarter truth. Adrian needed to get away and meeting Trey seemed like a good enough excuse to do it. Besides, Adrian _did _want to meet whatever guy was hanging around Sydney—he just wasn't sure how much "brotherly duty" had to do with it.

Jill waited until her bondmate was out of earshot before asking Eddie, "Do you think it's time we tell him that we know he's afraid of Halloween stuff?"

"Nah," Eddie said after a pensive moment. "We'll let him keep his dignity for just one more year."

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><p>It was fairly easy to spot Sydney, even in the crowded cafeteria. She hadn't bothered to hide her tattoo tonight, and it flashed to Adrian like a beacon. He noticed she was talking to a couple other girls with her hands on her hips, suggesting she wasn't very pleased with them. The other girls were in hysterical giggles, so Adrian gathered that Sydney's wrath wasn't much scarier for humans than it was for vampires. There was no sign of Trey.<p>

Adrian slid through the crowd of teenagers easily, ignoring all of them, his eyes set on Sydney. Or rather, the back of her head. Had he focused on anything else but the back of her head, he might have taken a pause.

"Hey! Little sister!"

Sydney turned around slowly to face him, pausing her lecture and then Adrian stopped dead because Sydney Sage was dressed up for Halloween. Adrian wasn't sure he had ever seen this much of her chest or her legs and wasn't sure he ever would again. It made him wish he wasn't pretending to be her brother so he could take a moment to memorize the curves of her body he had never been given the pleasure of truly seeing before.

"And what are _you_ supposed to be?" Adrian asked curiously because, honestly, he couldn't tell.

"A prostitute," Sydney said darkly. Adrian doubted it. Maybe by her standards, but by his, he would guess she was dressed as a sexy...something. The little black velvet dress with the deep V-neckline and knee-high hemline didn't leave a lot of clues. He studied her black leather boots thoughtfully, wondering just how much her friends had had to suffer through the get the Alchemist into this.

"She's a vampire," Sydney's blonde friend said cheerfully.

"We tried to get her to put on the fangs so people would know, but she resisted," the other girl sighed. "It took forever to get her into the costume in the first place and by the time we were done with her makeup, we didn't have enough time to fight about the fangs."

"A vampire?" Adrian repeated dumbly. No wonder Sydney looked like she was about to resign her soul to eternal damnation. Adrian's shock turned into a grin and his grin became mad-scientist laughter that suited his costume well.

"Well, what the hell are _you_ supposed to be?" Sydney snapped.

Adrian looked down, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said, gesturing to his suit and bow-tie which Clarence had so kindly loaned out to him. "I'm Bill Nye the Science Guy."

"I've never heard of him," Sydney said, anger replaced by confusion. Adrian shook his head. Of course she wouldn't know. In fact, she probably thought he was some kind of historical Alchemist.

"I'll explain later."

"I'm Julia," Sydney's blonde friend said suddenly. "And this is Kristin."

"Nice to meet you," Adrian said, focusing in on Sydney's friends. Obviously, Sydney's costume had come out of either one of their closets. Julia was a nurse and Kristin was a cat of some kind. Of course, the bags that the costumes had come in all probably had "NAUGHTY" added in bright letters on the front.

"This your brother, Melbourne?" Adrian turned around and found himself looking at a wooden stake with a dulled edge. He moved his eyes away from the stake to the boy who was twirling it expertly around his fingers. He was covered in more crosses than Adrian thought Sydney even owned. Adrian had a good idea of who he was looking at, but opted to guess what he was dressed as instead.

"Vampire hunter?" Adrian suggested. How perfect. He didn't get an answer.

"Trey! You're back!" Julia said flashing a wicked look to both Kristin and Sydney. The latter scowled. Suddenly, Adrian was pretty sure he knew what her lecture had been about.

"Do you really think I'd miss the Halloween show?" Trey asked with a crooked smile.

"Halloween show?" Adrian repeated suspiciously.

"Oh yeah," Kristin said, excitement lighting up her face. "It's different every year, but I heard this year is going to specialize in zombie clowns."

Of course it was.

"That sounds interesting," Sydney said, perking up slightly.

So much for the Alchemist being a little wimp on Halloween. Adrian was going to have to take matters into his own hands. Literally.

"Well, that's a damn shame since we kind of have to go now," Adrian said firmly before grabbing Sydney's arm firmly and tugging her away. Sydney started to squirm once they were out of the building and Adrian looked down at her—or at least he tried. His gaze ended up wandering past her face, down her throat, straight to the wonderful view he had of her cleavage. They were alone and he decided that he was free of his need to play big brother.

"Adrian!" Sydney snapped, making him blink and look up. This time he did manage to look at her face, or more specifically, the lily tattoo on her cheek. The golden lily served as a slap-in-the-face reminder that Sydney was off limits, not just because she was a human, but because she was an Alchemist. Somehow, that just made her even more appealing.

"Nice costume," he said. "I didn't know you were such a fan of vampires, Sage. You should've told me."

"Look! A zombie clown!" Sydney shouted suddenly and Adrian let out a yelp of terror. The uncharacteristic, victorious smirk Sydney shot him made him grimace.

"Okay," he relented. "I'll let the costume thing drop."

"Yes," Sydney said. "Yes you will."

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><p>She had to know, Adrian kept telling himself. There was absolutely no way Sydney Sage could not know how ridiculously sensual she looked lying on her bed, still in her costume minus the shoes, sucking lightly on the lollipop Adrian had dared her to eat, regardless of the insane amount of sugar it contained. He was really starting to regret that decision. At the same time, he couldn't help but think that this might have been a sight he would've died to see if she wasn't so completely <em>off <em>_limits_. He bit in a Snickers bar remorsefully, hoping to drown his sorrows in chocolate since Sydney was so extremely adamant about not letting him smoke in her dorm room.

They were watching a _21 __Jump __Street_ marathon, the entire series of which Kristin had apparently forced Sydney to borrow upon learning she had never watched it before.

"I'm starting to see what you meant," Sydney observed. "About us playing _21 __Jump __Street _I mean."

"See?" Adrian said. "All my jokes have a strong truth to them."

"Excluding the ones where you talk about how good looking you are, right?"

"Ouch."

Sydney shot him a playful smile, her lips stained red from the sugary candy. There didn't seem to be anything intentionally sultry about it, but she had to be doing this on purpose. She had to be. Either that or Adrian just needed to stop spending time around girls who constantly had ulterior motives and liked to play games.

"What time is it?" Sydney asked suddenly.

"Late," Adrian said. "For you anyway. It's the middle of my day."

"Damn your unholy nocturnal schedule," Sydney sighed, her amber eyes fluttering closed. She was pinching her arm in an effort to keep herself awake.

"Scared I'm going to bite you if you fall asleep?" Adrian said, only half-teasing. He knew her answer would affect him, he knew it would and he hated that fact.

"No, not really," Sydney said. "Have I ever told you that you're the least scary vampire I've ever met? Almost entirely nonthreatening."

"You're having a fun time crushing my ego, aren't you, Sage?"

"Highlight of my night."

And then, miraculously, she fell asleep.

Adrian watched her for a while, bemused. She wasn't saying a word but she still enticed him to come closer. Adrian smiled somewhat wryly to himself. She was right to not be afraid of him going all Dracula on her neck. He didn't want to bite her. However, there was a long list of other things he wanted to do to her, and _that_ was what Sydney should've been worried about.

Shaking his head, Adrian turned back to the television, leaning his head against Sydney's bed, listening to her breathing. He didn't move an inch that whole night, but images of her lips kept flashing behind his closed eyes.

Lips, he decided, that sweet dreams were made of.

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><p>Well, this certainly took a whole mind of it's own, like things always seem to do when I'm not quite sure where I'm going with them... By the way, reviews are always nice :) Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter.<p> 


	3. All The Rage

So, I got bored writing such happy stuff and tried to write something angsty. It didn't work out that way, but I guess I'm just not made to create depressing stuff... Anyway, what some people may call an OOC-Sydney, I call an Evolved-Sydney and so Sydney will probably be very evolved in this one, just because I said so :D

Disclaimer: I don't own anything...it all goes to Richelle Mead.

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><p><strong>Prompt Three: All The Rage by Funeral For A Friend<strong>

_Why do we need this? _

_Who was it that said _

_That great things come to great men?_

_Well that fucker lied to us_

_There's nothing here but a wasteland_

_There's nothing here_

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><p>Sydney Sage was not a fan of irony. Partially because half the time she didn't get it, but mostly because a majority of the ironic situations she landed herself in weren't good. Take right now for instance. It was ironic that she spent most of her time being afraid of vampires when they were being completely civil. But now, as she watched Adrian Ivashkov ramble and rave with the glint of pure insanity in his eyes, she felt pretty calm.<p>

More likely she was just in shock. It wouldn't be surprising. She had never seen Adrian flash his fangs before. But then again, she had never seen him so lost to spirit. And as far as she knew, neither had anyone else. Not this bad anyway. Not this angry. She knew that the magic was the cause of this because this was exactly the sort of thing Sonya had cautioned Sydney about.

"He may be bound to Jill," Sonya had said quietly. "But he's still not used to using this much spirit all the time, especially without it being muted by his heavy drinking. And now that Dimitri is here..."

"I know, ma'am," Sydney replied, completely unsure exactly what the older spirit user had wanted her to do. Now that she thought about it, she _still_ wasn't sure exactly what she was supposed to be doing. She hoped that if any revelations were about to come enlighten her, they would come sooner rather than later.

Sydney was fairly certain that it was long past the time she had needed to leave his apartment. She still could. She didn't think Adrian even knew she was there. He was too busy snarling about how his heart had been so carelessly broken.

"And not just broken," he added as he paced. "Stepped on. Burned. _Ripped __up!_ They don't even _know_. No one knows." Sydney thought that Jill probably knew, but refrained from saying so. She didn't want to draw any attention to herself. This whole thing was enforcing her fear of Moroi magic. If this was what it did to its weilders, that meant that there was no way it couldn't be something Satanic.

"They don't _care_ either!" Adrian finished, bringing Sydney out of her thoughts. There was a long silence. Their gazes locked for the first time since Sydney had entered Adrian's apartment. Suddenly, it felt like all the oxygen was being sucked out of the room. For a moment, Sydney couldn't understand why. And then she realized that it was his eyes. They were devoid entirely of rage. It was replaced by pain, making him seem more vulnerable than Sydney ever thought anyone could be. She almosted wanted him to start shouting again. She would take fangs over large sad eyes any day, especially when it came to Adrian Ivashkov.

Because now, his rambling was starting to seem less crazy. He really was hurting. And he wasn't bothering to hide it with a lazy grin, not this time. She wondered if he even could.

In a movement so unsteady it almost seemed drunken, Adrian took a step towards where Sydney sat on the sofa that clashed so horribly with the walls. Sydney's fingers pushed anxiously against the fabric, but she didn't move. She couldn't move, even when Adrian collapsed before her, his hands resting on her knees, almost like he was about to pray. Hell, maybe he was. It wasn't like the whole thing could get any crazier.

"Do _you_ care, Sydney?"

Never mind.

For a moment, she was blown away that he had used her first name. Then she realized what he was asking and her numbness vanished. It was replaced by the familiar terror that made every muscle in her body go rigid. The terror that made her want to run. The terror brought on because she didn't want to face the truth, didn't want to admit how much she cared about him—which was way more than she should.

This, Sydney decided, was not good at all. Especially when the terror began to recede and the need to comfort Adrian took over her common sense.

_There's __no __way __this __could __possibly __get __any __worse._

It was a wonder Adrian noticed her nod because it was so very small. Just a slight inclination of her head, but he took it as a free invitation to climb onto the sofa beside her before pulling the Alchemist into his arms like she was some kind of oversized security blanket. He nestled his face against her neck gently, his shaky breath warm against her throat. Sydney almost screamed because this was it, he had snapped, he was going to drink her blood and she was such an idiot for getting too close to a vampire and—

And he wasn't biting her. Only when she realized that her life wasn't in any immediate danger did she calm down and bother to notice that his grip on her was loose enough for her to pull away if she wanted to. She didn't.

_I __will __never, _ever _think __to __myself __that __a __bad __situation __can't __get __any __worse._

If she had been hoping that her internal promise would bring the scenario uphill, she was disappointed because it only proceeded to get worse, as chance would have it. With every second that passed, Sydney found herself beginning to like this—whatever _this_ might be defined as. She herself defined it as something that would most certainly get her landed in a re-education center.

Then Adrian lifted his head up from her shoulder and met her eyes almost sleepily. He didn't look sad anymore, she was pleased to note while struggling not to drown in his gaze. Just exhausted, as if his bout of insanity had worn him out. Sydney wondered if the episode had passed on its own or if Jill had learned how to pull the darkness away, just as Rose had done for Lissa when they were still bound.

"I'm messed up, aren't I, Sage?"

So he was back to using her last name. Both relief and some other emotion Sydney couldn't put her finger crashed down upon her. Then she panicked again when she realized that she needed to say something, be comforting, and this time she couldn't mess up. But what was there to say? From experience she had learned that lying didn't work. In fact, it usually made things worse. But the truth... What _was_ the truth? She thought about it deeply as one of her hands trailed up his back, her fingers weaving gently into his dark hair. It reminded her of something that her mother used to do until the Alchemists dug their hooks into Sydney and she became too distant for such gestures of affection. And then Sydney found the truth.

"Extremely," she said in her most diplomatic voice. "So maybe we can be damaged goods together." Because she _was_ damaged goods, especially as far as the Alchemists were concerned. But maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. To her surprise, Adrian chuckled.

"Good," he said. "Because for a second there, I thought I was going crazy alone."

"No," sighed Sydney. "I'm right here with you." And that was as honest as it got.

Maybe that was what she was supposed to do. Just be honest. Just be there. Just care. Just keep him held tightly to her, and never let go. Just do exactly what she wasn't supposed to do. Suddenly, Adrian's lips brushed against Sydney's forehead gently, causing something electric to shoot up her spine. It should have been fear, but it wasn't and that itself scared her. There was no way it was accidental which meant she had just been kissed on the forehead by Adrian Ivashkov, the most unvampire-like vampire in the world. And she liked it. A lot.

She imagined what might happen if the Alchemists found out about this and she knew she had to pull away. But...

_Who's __going __to __tell __them? __He's __not. __You __aren't. __No __one __is __here __to __see._

The fear ebbed away, but the electric sparks didn't fade. The truth rang clear around Sydney's head once again: she wasn't going anywhere.

Not until curfew anyway.

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><p>Meh. Back to work. Reviews are welcome with open arms and chocolate chip cookies. I take good care of them I swear :)<p> 


	4. Radioactive

I meant to put up this chapter a few days ago, but the computer I used to write it doesn't have interet connection and I lost my flashdrive so now I'm using my dad's. Bleg.

Disclaimer: Still not mine. You can try and sue me anyway, but you won't get much.

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><p><strong>Prompt Four: Radioactive by Kings of Leon<strong>

_And when they clash_

_And come together_

_And start arising_

_Just drink the water_

_Where you came from_

_Where you came from_

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><p>At the beginning of starting at Amberwood, Sydney had thought that an elementary touch up in chemistry might be good for her. She was wrong.<p>

It was _boring_.

She stared at the equations before her that she had completed almost an hour ago, along with the rest of her homework. Mentally, she ran through a list of things to do.

She could find Trey and help him with _his_ homework—he'd asked for her help a long time ago. But he had started acting strangely as of late. Julia and Kristin were certain he was going to ask Sydney out, but the Alchemist was fairly certain it was something else. It had started around the time she asked about his tattoo.

Anyway, it was for that very same reason that she didn't seek out Julia or Kristin. Not the tattoo. The giggling about Trey. It always lead to a lot of humiliating questions (and innuendos) that made seeing the school's new quarterback extremely uncomfortable.

She could always call Ms. Terwilliger and see if the woman needed anything, but ever since the incident with the incineration charm, Sydney had been wary of her, only doing the work that was asked of her, but doing it well nonetheless.

Sydney thought about trying to find Jill, but she was probably with Angeline, the latter of whom had made her distaste of all Alchemists clear. Angeline had actually taken to trying to start duels with Sydney and, despite Eddie's lessons, Sydney was no match for the other girl.

Eddie. He was the _last_ person Sydney was about to go find. She was still bewildered by the dhampir's insistence that Jill could do better than him. She was about as frustrated by it as she was confused and had a feeling she would only start chewing into him for it if she spent more than five minutes alone with him. Either that or she'd start making T-shirts that said, "EDDIE NEEDS TO ASK JILL THE [INSERT-YOUR-PREFERRED-FOUR-LETTER-WORD-HERE] OUT!" and since they were pretending to be siblings, that would be extremely awkward.

Sydney stared at the sky out her window. It was far too light outside for her to even pretend it was late enough to go to sleep.

Suddenly, Sydney's cellphone—which was for emergencies, the Alchemists, or Ms. Terwilliger only—began to ring. Alarm rushed through her. She stared at the caller ID and alarm became panic. It was Adrian calling her.

She thought of all the horrible things that could be happening to Adrian. He could be lost in the middle of nowhere, hungover because he had been drowning his sorrows in cheap alcohol. He didn't usually drink of school nights, but since the arrival of Dimitri, Adrian had slipped up a couple times. Or he could be hiding from Moroi assassins, coming after him in an attempt to lure out Jill. He could be dying slowly and calling Sydney for help. The list went on, growing worse and worse, so the fear in her voice was loud and clear when she answered.

"Are you okay?" she demanded.

"Careful, Sage," Adrian said cheerfully. "You wouldn't want anyone to think you were worried about an unholy creature of the night—even one as amazing as I am."

First, Sydney felt a strong wave of relief wash over her. He was fine. Nothing was wrong. In fact, he sounded better than he had in a while. Then his words rang in her head and she realized that, even if he was only joking, his remark hit her very close to home. Almost too close. And then she remembered—

"This number is for you to call during emergencies _only_," Sydney said. She prayed the vampire could hear her irritation across the line.

"It _is_ an emergency!" Adrian insisted. Obviously, her prayers were being ignored. Damn.

"Is your life in mortal danger?" asked Sydney.

"No, but—"

"'Bye, Adrian."

"Wait! I really do need help." There was an honesty to his voice that made Sydney pause.

"What do you need help with?"

"I need inspiration," Adrian admitted.

There was a pause before Sydney informed him, "I'm _not_ going to be a nude model." She was joking. Kind of.

Adrian sighed. "Well, you can't say I didn't try," he said. "But if you won't pose for me, will you at least give me some kind of idea? Be my muse, Sage."

"I don't have an artistic brain," Sydney reminded him.

"A muse doesn't have to have an artistic brain," Adrian argued. "You just have to inspire me. So just keep on talking. I'm sure that I can make something interesting out of whatever boring way you're spending your time."

"I'm not doing anything boring!" Sydney protested. It was true—she wasn't doing anything at all. But she didn't feel the need to share this bit of information. God knew, Adrian would only make fun of her for it.

"I bet you're just sitting around in your big, empty dorm room," Adrian said triumphantly.

"And I bet you're just sitting around in your big, empty apartment," Sydney retorted. Stupid vampire.

"I am," Adrian confirmed with no shame at all. "And if you would honor me with your presence, we could be sitting around in my big not-so-empty apartment together. And _you_ could be inspiring me!"

For weeks afterwards, Sydney would spend many nights in her bed tossing and turning, wondering if his words really had been an invitation. At the moment, however, Sydney was bored. Bored and—as much as she didn't want to admit it—lonely. There was also something very addictive about Adrian's company, especially when he was in one of his good moods, something that had become rare.

"I'll be there soon," she said, even as she pulled herself up off of her bed, pushing books and papers aside. She hung up without another word, just in case either one of them changed their mind.

* * *

><p>"Naked ladies?" Sydney offered.<p>

"You already turned down that suggestion, remember?" Adrian said. Sydney rolled her eyes and sat up from where she had been lying on Adrian's living room floor, staring at the appallingly yellow—sorry, _Goldenrod_—ceiling. She turned to the vampire sitting right beside her.

"I meant the flowers," she said.

"What's the fun in that?"

Sydney scoffed, but said nothing else. She turned her head back up the the ceiling. It made her think of a radioactive explosion, despite what she knew about them. Not very calming at all, or even cheerful. But it also made her think of the thoroughly buttered toast she used to eat before she realized how much fat it could add to her body.

"Radioactive...toast," she murmured to herself. Adrian let out a sound of delight and jumped up.

"See, Sage?" he exclaimed. "I knew you would think of something!"

"Radioactive toast?" Sydney repeated, confused.

"Exactly," Adrian crowed. "I'll call it..._Paranormal __Radioactivity!_" Slowly, Sydney shook her head. She thought about asking, but decided that she didn't really want to know what went on in the mind of Adrian Ivashkov.

Unfortunately, she was about to find out.

* * *

><p>"It's just not possible," Sydney said forcefully.<p>

"Sure it is, Sage," Adrian said. "You just gotta believe."

"I believe in science, and science says you cannot make radioactive toast with bread, butter, and a toaster oven!"

"Oh yes I can," Adrian argued. "Like _this!_" And with more flourish than the action itself really deserved, Adrian sliced a piece of bread and set it in the toaster oven. There was a long pause in which nothing happened—for good reason.

"So are you going to _turn __on_ the toaster oven?" Sydney asked dryly.

"Good plan, lovely assistant of mine," Adrian said.

"_Assistant_?"

Adrian shot her a charming grin that only made Sydney even more annoyed before turning the toaster oven's temperature all the way up. Sydney swallowed nervously. There was only one way this could end up.

* * *

><p>Wet. That was how it ended up. The whole kitchen, from the counters to the floor to almost every appliance, was soaked in water, as were the only two occupants.<p>

"Well,_ that_ was fun," Adrian said, still clutching the bucket that had recently been filled with water to put out of the fire his radioactive toast experiment had started.

"I think," Sydney said slowly, "that you and I have two _very_ different ideas of fun." Adrian looked at the Alchemist and smiled widely. He opened his mouth to say something—probably some extremely unwise comment about the fact that he could see her bra through her drenched white blouse—but froze, a look of rapture spreading across his face.

"What?" Sydney snapped.

"My inspiration!" Adrian cried. "It's back!"

"I thought the radioactive toast was your inspiration," said Sydney, rushing to follow the Moroi as he tore off around his apartment, pulling out various colors of paint and a brand new piece of paper.

"Yeah, well, that idea obviously flew out the window when I had to kill my toaster oven," Adrian said distractedly. "This means I'm going to need to go to the nearest IHOP next time I want Belgian waffles. Damn it."

"But you have a new inspiration now," Sydney ventured.

"I do," Adrian confirmed.

"What is it?"

"The way your mouth curves when you're angry."

"What kind of inspiration is _that_?" Sydney demanded. Adrian shot her an indulgent smile.

"If you had an artistic brain like mine," he told her, "you would understand. Sometimes, we have to do bad things to get what we want." At his words, suspicion began to grow in Sydney's mind.

"Please tell me you didn't start that fire just to get me mad," she said.

"Of course not," Adrian scoffed, studying the different colors of paints he'd pulled out. "To do so would require thinking ahead, something I never do. But isn't it lovely the way some things just work out?"

Sydney had nothing to say to that. Goosebumps began to pop up over her flesh and she shivered slightly.

"Shower's open," Adrian told her, noticing that she was cold. "I swear I won't peek."

"Okay," Sydney said after a pause. "But I'm not going to thank you since it's your fault I'm like this anyway."

"No need to thank me at all," Adrian said. "The more inspiration I can gather the better." The look Sydney sent his way made him throw up his hands defensively. "Joking!" he said hastily. "Just joking, Sage!"

"Good," Sydney said, stalking to the back where the bathroom was, leaving Adrian wondering whether or not it would really be worth it to steal her clothes. All for the sake of inspiration of course.

* * *

><p>And that is that. I love all the reviews I've been sent, by the way. They make me smile...and then I make my dad and my brother read them aloud to me again.<p> 


	5. Saying Sorry

I have absolutely nothing witty or clever to put as an author's note...

Disclaimer: Still. Not. Mine.

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Five: Saying Sorry by Hawthorne Heights<strong>

_She keeps repeating _

_(She keeps repeating)  
>All that she needed<br>She says she's right here _

_(She says she's right here)  
>She seems so distant<br>Saying goodbye this time, the same old story  
>Seeing you cry, makes me feel like saying sorry<em>

* * *

><p>Adrian thought about thanking Sydney for what she was doing, but opted not to. They were at Clarence's house. Since Adrian still lacked a car, Sydney had become his chauffeur to-and-from his feedings. She didn't complain, but Adrian suspected that was only because she didn't like the alternatives any more than she did the current situation. It was probably more of a hassle on the Alchemist than she needed, and she really did deserve some verbal appreciation for it. But Adrian would leave that for Jailbait to do.<p>

He turned to Sydney and found her picking at a scratch on her elbow. It wasn't deep, but it looked like it had hurt.

"Where'd you get that?" Adrian asked her. Sydney blinked in surprise, looking from Adrian to her new battle scar, as Eddie had jokingly referred to it when he first noticed it earlier that day.

"PE," said Sydney. "I fell during a soccer match."

This was the time, Adrian knew, for him to say something clever. To pull some witty quip out of his ass like he always did. But he couldn't. There was something bubbling up inside of him, an urge, a sensation not unlike the ones he got whenever he looked at a bottle of good scotch on a school night—whether it be his or Jailbait's. It was spirit. He wanted to use it. It gnawed at his gut painfully, singing in his blood sweetly. He didn't think, just reached out and touched Sydney's arm lightly.

He felt the pull, the rush, and then the ecstasy of release as the magic began to work, erasing the cut like it never existed. He sighed softly. Total peace settled over him, something beautiful that he rarely felt anymore. It was like being in a trance as everything that made the world a good place became a streak of fire that rushed through his veins.

A shout and something hard hitting his shoulder shook Adrian awake.

"_Don't_ _use __you r__magic __on __me!_" Sydney hissed. Flashes of Sydney's reaction every other time she had witnessed Moroi magic whipped through Adrian's head and immediately, he felt guilty.

Guilt. It was a new emotion for him. In fact, before coming to Palm Springs, Adrian couldn't remember the last time he'd really apologized to anyone and meant it. But now? How many times had he told Sydney he was sorry for something he'd done? He was starting to lose count. The words came easily to him now.

But first, he studied her face. The spasm of righteous fury had vanished, replaced by the terror that practically oozed out of her pores and Adrian felt a bit of déjà vu, recalling the spirit dream he had brought her into in which the setting had been this very room. He remembered the way she had tried to shrink into herself as if that might get rid of the magic.

Then he felt slightly annoyed. The Alchemist really ought to be used to magic by now. She had a career that involved vampires. Magic wasn't just something Moroi _did_. It was a _part_ of them, of who they _were_. Sydney might as well get over her phobia. But then again, she had already crossed so many lines, violated so many things that she had been raised to believe in. She deserved some slack.

The two conflicting ideas were giving Adrian a headache.

He thought about telling Sydney how it felt to use spirit, and how it felt when he didn't. He imagined trying to explain that the need was uncontrollably undeniable, that he couldn't help it. That he was weak against it.

_You _could _help __it ,__Adrian. __If __you __really, __really __tried, __you __could've __held __back. __You __aren't __as __weak __as __you __say __you __are, __so __stop __using __cheap __excuses._

The voice that chastised him in his head sounded suspiciously like Sydney. It was unsurprising. After all, she was the one who had given him a conscience in the first place. Why wouldn't it have her voice? Her reasoning? Besides that, Sydney deserved more than a simple excuse.

The light sound of footsteps met his ears and Adrian realized that she was moving away slowly. Hastily, he blocked the doorway, careful not to touch her in case she freaked out some more. The words he needed came to him without thought, without hesitation. When he spoke them, there was no awkward stopping because he was trying to wrap his brain around the idea of being sorry. Of saying sorry. He understood the whole concept by now, so he felt it was his duty to add a bit of attitude to it.

"I'm sorry," Adrian said. That wasn't so bad. "I won't ever do that again. Unless, of course, we're stranded in the desert and you're dying in my arms, completely beyond any sort of medical attention. Then I might have to do something, but you won't even notice, I promise."

Sydney stopped moving and for a moment, Adrian wondered if she knew how monumental it was that he said those words to her, how unique his apologies made her, even when they were tainted by his difficulty with taking anything seriously. An apology didn't seem like much, but coming from him...

Except how could she know what any of it meant? Sydney hadn't really known him before this. And strangely, Adrian didn't want her to. He felt like it might disappoint her and his gut twisted inexplicably at the very thought of that. Of course, Sydney had seen bits and pieces of what made people so willing to give up on him, and she hadn't kicked him to the curb. Adrian wondered if he was doubting her patience level. Or maybe he was just doubting how much she believed he could fix himself.

He noticed then that Sydney seemed to be going through her own thoughts and he waited for her response.

"Okay," she said finally.

"Okay?" Adrian repeated, wondering what that meant exactly. He'd also been kind of hoping for a little bit more than that.

Sydney looked up and met his eyes, all traces of fear gone. The setting sun was streaming through the window, surrounding her body in a ring of fiery gold. It lit up her eyes, her hair, her skin, and she looked fierce. Not in the wild Amazonian warrior woman way that Rose did, but in a softer sort of way that was just as powerful and radiant. There was also something swirling in her eyes, a glimmer of some emotion that Adrian couldn't quite place.

She looked, Adrian realized, like a goddess.

"I forgive you," Sydney clarified. "And I believe you." Adrian was about to make a joke about her avoiding the possibility of her near-death in the desert when he recognized the look in her eyes. It was something she had looked at him with before once or twice although it had never caused the sensation of a painful contraction in his chest like this before.

It was faith. Sydney was looking at him with unshakeable faith in her eyes. He didn't recognize it at first because no one really looked at him like that. No one but her. It occurred to Adrian that maybe Sydney really _did_ get what these things meant to him. And maybe that was why she did them. She understood him in a way that no one else ever had. It felt good. She made him happy. She made him want to be...better.

"This is insane," he muttered.

"What's insane?" Sydney asked him.

"You," Adrian told her. "You inspiring me to be a better person. It's crazy." He paused and thought for a moment. "But since crazy is my middle name, I guess that's just fine."

Instead of laughing, Sydney fixed him with a peculiar look. It was a look that said a million things and yet it said nothing at all. It was a look that would stay with Adrian for a very long time. It was the look that made him think that he just might be falling for Sydney Sage.

Then she smiled.

* * *

><p>There we go. Reviews are adored! But you guys already know that.<p> 


	6. I Would Do Anything For You

I know, I know, I took forever to update. But I was busy! I just got back from two days at Disneyland and then spent Thanksgiving with my dad's family. Plus, the hotel we stayed at didn't have internet anyway...I was planning on doing something about Thanksgiving for this chapter, but then this song came on and inspiration struck—with nothing to do with Thanksgiving at all. My muse doesn't like to be ignored so this little monster was born.

Disclaimer: Not mine, although Adrian would've been a nice Thanksgiving present ;)

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Six: I Would Do Anything For You by Foster The People<strong>

_Remember all those times_

_I was hoping for something_

_And shaking my head _

_From all I have done_

_But you never left me_

* * *

><p>The wardrobe was dark and stuffy. Over the sound of her shaky gasps for breath, Sydney could hear shrieks outside of her hiding place. A loud thump came dangerously close and she barely kept in a terrified whimper. She was pretty sure that, if by some miracle she survived this night, her nightmares of Strigoi would be replaced by dreams of the horrific event commonly known as Black Friday.<p>

Suddenly, the wardrobe door opened. Sydney closed her eyes and sent up one final prayer.

* * *

><p><em>About Ten Hours Earlier...<em>

"I'm never going to eat again," Adrian announced. He didn't require an answer, so Sydney didn't give him one. Instead, she drove in silence, trying to calculate in her head how many calories she had ingested at the Thanksgiving dinner Clarence had held. She gave up hastily, not really wanting to know. What she wanted was to go home and crawl into her bed. The problem was that she wasn't driving to her actual home and it wasn't her bed that she was going to be sleeping in.

Amberwood Prep's Thanksgiving break lasted for one week. From what Sydney had understood from different conversations with Trey, Kristin, and Julia, one week was about average for school holidays. Clarence had invited Jill, Eddie, Angeline, and Sydney to come stay at his house for the duration of their free time. Sydney suspected that it was out of pity for the old man that Jill had so happily agreed. Also, they both shared the loss of Lee. And where Jill went, her guardians went, so Eddie and Angeline also decided to stay with Clarence. The Alchemists had been fine with the vampires spending Thanksgiving break away from Amberwood, but had immediately refused to let Sydney stay?peaking without asking her, of course. Unfortunately, it looked very strange when three family members left and one remained behind and Sydney had been informed by her father that she was not to leave Palm Springs, no matter what.

The Alchemists' solution to this problem was a simple mathematical equation: an Alchemist staying with one vampire was much better than an Alchemist staying with four vampires.

Adrian had been so delighted to have Sydney staying at his apartment for a week that he let her have his bed. Either that or he was just ecstatic that Sonya and Dimitri had left Palm Springs to eat turkey with their own loved ones. Sydney knew Sonya was happy to see Mikhail back at Court, and had overheard that Dimitri was going to Russia to see his family for the first time since he'd been changed back to a dhampir. Naturally, Rose was tagging along. Sydney remembered her time spent in Russia and shuddered.

Whichever was the reason for Adrian's happiness was really none of Sydney's concern. She was just glad things hadn't been as awkward as she thought they would. In fact, staying with Adrian had been nice. So nice that she was almost dreading the end of Thanksgiving break.

She frowned at the thought, so distracted by her musings that she almost missed the apartment building she had begun to think of as her home. Thankfully, she _didn't_ miss it. Per usual, Adrian didn't comment on Sydney's terrific talent with parallel parking. She opened the car door and was met with a eyeful of rain.

"It's raining," she said, so surprised she couldn't stop from stating the obvious. This had to be some kind of Thanksgiving miracle. She pulled herself out of the car and turned, only to find that Adrian was standing right next to her, staring at her thoughtfully. The fact that Sydney didn't flinch was a sign of how accustomed she was to him appearing out of nowhere.

"Do you know what's going to happen in just a few hours?" he asked.

"No...?" Sydney said uncertainly.

"Black Friday," said Adrian. "You know, when everything goes on sale for super cheap."

"I thought you were allergic to sales," Sydney said, her eyebrows raised. They were still standing in the light rain. It was dark and cold and she wanted to go inside their—no, _his_ apartment. Adrian grimaced.

"Not anymore," he told her somberly. "I've been saving up for this since I found out that there was more to the day after Thanksgiving than spending all day on the—"

"I get it," Sydney said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "But why? What could you possibly want?"

Adrian took one small step closer before saying, "There's a furniture store downtown that has really, really nice couch. Their sale starts at three."

"So you want to go buy a new couch," Sydney said slowly. "And you want to buy one on sale. Okay."

"Will you go with me?"

"Huh," said Sydney. "Let me think. On one hand, I could sleep through the night in a warm, comfortable bed. On the other, I could be awake at three in the morning, getting attacked by psychotic old women who are willing to bash my head in with their baskets so they can get the last navy blue cardigan. What a tough decision."

"But I don't want to go alone," Adrian whined, moving towards Sydney until he was right in front of her.

"Ask the right way then," Sydney challenged. Even the thought of Adrian saying please amused her. She was much less amused by what happened next. With a quick flash of his most charming smile, Adrian dropped down on one knee before the Alchemist who would have fallen onto the ground in surprise if Adrian hadn't grabbed one of her hands in both of his. The gesture was both idiotically romantic—or at least it would have been if it had been shared under any other circumstances—and kept her standing up right.

"We've been sharing an apartment for almost a week now," he said, completely straight-faced. "As you know, I've been sleeping on the couch and it's got me thinking. My couch is...well, extremely uncomfortable. And I can't think of a better time than now to start with something new."

"Oh for the love of—"

"And so here I am," Adrian continued, raising his voice slightly to talk over Sydney, "asking you the most sacred question a man might possibly ask a woman. Sydney Sage, would you do me the honor of being my Black Friday Shopping Buddy?"

He tugged Sydney's hand to rest over his heart and batted his eyelashes at her innocently. Sydney sighed, trying her hardest not to be at all charmed by his theatrics. She wasn't even bothering to fight the furious blush that had tinted her cheeks.

"Fine," she snapped. Adrian let out a victorious cheer and seized Sydney around the waist. He spun her around happily, ignoring her squeals of displeasure.

* * *

><p>"I'm tired," Adrian sighed, resting his cheek on the top of Sydney's head. She poked him sharply in the ribs.<p>

"This was your idea," she reminded him, forcibly ignoring the cluster of giggling women who were staring at them. She didn't want to know what they were talking about. Her determination to ignore them had been furthered about fifteen minutes earlier when Adrian cast them a bemused glance, but didn't say a word to Sydney about it.

"I know," Adrian said. "And I must say, this isn't one of my more brilliant plans."

"You should've figured that out before I sacrificed a full night of sleep to stand in the freezing cold," Sydney replied. With a sudden jerk, the line moved forward and Sydney let out a sigh of relief. It was still raining. She was still cold. The rare change in weather was quickly losing its appeal.

Within ten minutes, they were inside. This was due to Sydney's insistence that they get in line an hour early. It was cold and boring, but it was worth it.

"I see it," Adrian breathed joyously. He disappeared from Sydney's side almost immediately. She took a step in the direction he had headed, but a sharp shove knocked her into a wall before she could go anywhere. Before she knew what was happening, Sydney was trapped in a stampede of people rushing around. It was like being in a whirlpool. She was turned and shoved and pulled and twisted in a different directions. There was a scream of rage and Sydney turned around to find a lamp being thrown in her general direction. Reflexes that Eddie had instilled deeply within her kicked in and she ducked. Still keeping the scant bit of information she had received in her mind, she fought her way out of the mass.

Just when she thought she might drown, she caught sight of an oversized wardrobe. It seemed like the sort of thing that could hide Narnia. Non-existent worlds aside, it was also cast in the corner, scratches all over the polished wood. A neon green piece of paper taped to one of the doors announced that it wasn't for sale, sending a wave of hope through Sydney. She scrambled to the wardrobe before throwing one of the doors open and crawling inside. The door closed with a snap behind her. Sydney let out a slightly hysterical giggle. She was safe.

For now.

* * *

><p><em>Present...<em>

"Hey, Sage," Adrian said, sounding relieved. Sydney wondered if it was because he was glad to know she was alive and well, or because _he_ was now safe and sound. Well, as safe as someone could be while in the situation that they were.

"_Adrian!_"Sydney exclaimed. She grabbed his arm and pulled him all the way into the wardrobe with her before slamming the door shut. It was when she found herself in Adrian's lap that she realized that most wardrobes do not have an infinite amount of space—especially not beat up ones from used-furniture stores.

"Well, this is certainly cozy," Adrian piped up unhelpfully. Sydney thought that "awkward" was a more appropriate adjective, but opted not to voice her opinion.

Instead, she said, "We should make a battle plan."

"A battle plan?" Adrian repeated.

"Do you want to spend the rest of the night in this wardrobe?" Sydney asked. There was a long pause in which Sydney could practically hear Adrian's shit-eating grin. His silent response filled the suddenly-small-feeling wardrobe easily and Sydney tried to drive her elbow into his gut. With the limited space, it didn't work so well and Adrian laughed softly. They both hissed when someone crashed into their precarious safe haven and it shook dangerously.

"Okay, let's make a battle plan," Adrian said.

"I say we run out swinging," Sydney said determinedly. "We need to be as bloodthirsty as the rest of them if we want to survive."

"You call _that_ a battle plan, Sage?" Adrian scoffed. Sydney didn't dignify him with a response.

"Are you ready?" she asked instead.

"It was nice knowing you, Sage. Thanks for being my Black Friday Shopping Buddy."

"You know I'd do anything for you."

Before Sydney's words could fully hit either one of them, the doors flew open and they were face-to-face with a woman with bloodshot eyes and two screaming kids clinging to her legs. Adrian cursed loudly. Sydney didn't waste her breath, simply springing out of the closet. She almost hoped that she would get lost in the swarm of people. She was sure that if they got out alive—and the chances of that were starting to look a little bit better—Adrian would never, _ever_ let her accidental admission go.

* * *

><p>"We did it," Sydney said, stunned. Adrian followed her into the apartment, an equally surprised look on his face. Together they stumbled into the living room and collapsed onto the brand new couch they had had to do things that they silently agreed to never mention again to get. They had not escaped unscathed by any means. They were both covered in scratches and bruises, although it was the traumatizing memories that would leave the deepest scars. Nonetheless—<p>

"We got out alive," Adrian confirmed.

"With the couch," Sydney added, patting it just to make sure the fruits of their labor really existed.

"What now?" Adrian asked.

"Now we sit here all day long, watching movies," Sydney said. She doubted she was going to last that long, but was willing to try. Something inside of her squeezed tightly when she realized that it was really Friday morning with the sun just starting to rise. Saturday would be her last day at Adrian's place. She would return to her lonely dorm Sunday afternoon. She imagined going back to Amberwood and frowned. Sydney was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Adrian putting in _Lost Boys._

"No!" Sydney wailed. "I hate this one!" Truth be told, she didn't like any vampire movies at all, but vampire movies where the vampires hung upside-down by their feet? Definitely more awful than most. The worst part was that Adrian already knew this and enjoyed exploiting it.

"You don't like Chinese food that turns into worms?" Adrian teased her mercilessly, fully aware that the vampire illusion of noodles-to-worms had nothing to do with Sydney's distaste for the film, although it certainly didn't add any appeal to it.

"Turn it_ off_," Sydney growled, trying to put enough force into her words to make him obey. Instead, his shit-eating grin returned and Sydney got a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Still grinning broadly, Adrian asked, "What happened to 'I would do anything for you'?"

Sydney surrendered to her deep scowl. She hated Black Friday sales. She really, really did.

* * *

><p>And there is my ThanksgivingBlack Friday present to you all. By the way, I adore _Lost Boys. _I watched it with my dad a couple years ago and it's still one of my favorite vampire movies of all time. Now, how about some reviews as a Thanksgiving present for _moi_?


	7. Love Me Bad

I was in an angsty mood when I started this...then I started eating hash browns and I was cheered up considerably. You can totally tell, too.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bloodlines. I do own the hash browns that I just ate which is good enough for me.

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt 7: Love Me Bad by James Durbin<strong>

_And in the middle of the night_

_When I feel you by my side_

_Well it's nothing but a memory_

_What if we never said goodbye_

_If I never made you cry_

_Baby this is killing me_

* * *

><p>One of the many strange things about the human—or, in this case, vampire—psyche, is that is clings to the terrible memories whereas the good ones slip away so easily. Adrian Ivashkov had a lot of bad memories to remember, but there were two in particular that stood out clearly.<p>

The most obvious one to those who knew him was when he confronted Rose and she told him he thought of himself as a victim. That had burned, but not nearly as much as his first experience with being told the cold hard truth that he didn't want to hear by a woman he loved.

He had been twelve at the time, a clear sign that he was doomed for failure. His parents had sat him down in the living room, preparing for their lecture on why it was wrong that Adrian had broken into their liquor cabinet and sold their best alcohol at school for something a bit more hard-core. They didn't get that far.

"You don't have a sense of right and wrong, do you?" his mother said abruptly. The words didn't seem terrible, and her voice was calm, but for some reason, it struck Adrian harder than anything else might have. Several years later, he figured it out. He was drunk at the time, but true genius always comes when people aren't paying as much attention to the current moment as they should be.

It was the line of right and wrong that made people better than mere beasts, Adrian had decided poetically. And his own mother had accused him of not even having that much. It might have been a comment long forgotten if it weren't for the fact that Adrian couldn't help but think that her accusation might have a solid point. At the very best, it could be said that Adrian had a sense of right and wrong—he just didn't care.

Now, as Adrian stared across the room at the small figure seated on his couch, the words came rushing back to him.

_You __don__'__t __have __a __sense __of __right __and __wrong, __do __you?_

Obviously not.

He had once called Sydney Sage a Puritan. Or at least said she had a Puritan life style and didn't deserve a life of misery. He was ruining that right now. With his mind. Because he didn't think about Sydney in the white-light halo way she deserved.

Oh, he didn't _always_ think about how she would look tangled in his sheets with her fair hair disheveled and her amber eyes glazed over. Sometimes he just...thought about her. About what she was doing, what she was thinking, what she was feeling. Sometimes his thoughts were almost completely of an innocent nature, but the very fact that he thought about her ruined her. He thought about her because he loved her.

And his love was bad. It was wrong. Not just because she was a human, or because she the purest soul he'd ever met, but because Adrian himself simply didn't deserve to love her. He didn't deserve to want her to love him too.

_You don't have a sense of right and wrong, do you?_

If he did, he would have the sense to stop his thoughts. It wasn't just for him, or even for Sydney. It was for Jailbait. He knew he was making her miserable. She had never spoken to him about it, but he found the truth in the looks she shot him sometimes when she thought he wasn't looking.

"Adrian?"

And now Sydney was looking at him with concern glinting in her eyes. This only pushed him farther down in the depth of his guilt.

"Isn't it past curfew, Sage?" he replied. It was true.

"I don't feel like going back." The words were so unlike her, so rebellious. But then again, maybe they were both changing. Character development, Adrian thought to himself. But he wasn't sure if he liked what he was developing into.

Adrian had never been one to bask in guilt. Self-pity? Yes. Self-loathing over tarnishing the sheer goodness of someone else? Most definitely not. He wanted to throw himself on his knees before Sydney and plead for her forgiveness. But then she _would_ probably forgive him—either that or hire a psycho European hit man to cut out one of his eyes—and he would only feel that much worse. And yet his usual flippant personality took over and he waltzed over to where Sydney sat and collapsed beside her.

"Are we throwing a slumber party?" Adrian asked. "That sounds like fun. We can do each other's nails and then have a slow-motion pillow fight in our pajamas."

Flashes of Sydney in nothing but one of his shirts teased him. He fought to urge to smack himself and say, "Bad vampire!"

_You __don__'__t __have __a __sense __of __right __and __wrong, __do __you?_

Adrian wondered if what he was doing qualified as victimizing himself. It probably did. Maybe he should stop. Maybe he should think happy thoughts. Or maybe he should wonder why Sydney Sage was breaking school rules.

"What's the reason behind your new attitude, Sage?"

Sydney bit her lip and studied Adrian for a moment.

"It's not really a new attitude," she said. There was another long pause. "I'm just worried about you." This might have spiked Adrian's temper once. It didn't anymore. Now it just made him feel worse.

"There's nothing to be worried about," Adrian assured her.

_Nothing __except __for __the __fact __that __I__'__m __tainting __your __immortal __soul __or __whatever. __Nothing __except __for __the __fact __that __I __think __about __you __naked __on __occasion__—__like __right __now. __Nothing __except __the __fact __that __I __love __you __and __it__'__s __terrible. __For __your __immortal __soul, __I __mean._ I _don't __mind __it __so __much, __despite __the __angsty __internal __rants __it __sends __me __into. __They __make __for __good __art __anyway._

"Jill says you're sad," Sydney said, the words coming out awkwardly as if she wasn't sure how to phrase them and they were falling past her lips without consent.

"So you think a _Degrassi_ marathon is going to cheer me up?"

"A what?"

Adrian shook his head. "You aren't missing out," he said. "Much. There's definitely something enthralling about Canadian teenage drama, but things just haven't been the same since season 9."

"Right," said Sydney, clearly trying to find her ground again. "Well, like I said, I want to...help you." Adrian smiled dryly, recalling some of her words from so long ago, a time when things were so much easier.

"I thought it wasn't your job to take care of me," he said. "I thought I was an adult."

Sydney let out a sound of frustration. "Can't you just accept the fact that I want to help you without arguing with me?"

_You __don__'__t __have __a __sense __of __right __and __wrong, __do __you?_

How could he possibly explain that this was him trying to do the right thing? He could never fix what he'd done wrong by falling for Sydney in the first place, but he could try and stop himself from making things worse. Because he was pretty sure his feelings weren't one-sided and that tortured him just as much as it freed him.

"No," Adrian said. "That would make things too easy for you."

"I guess you're right," Sydney sighed, wrapping her hands around her knees as she pulled them up to her chest. He really wanted to kiss her.

"Of course I am," said Adrian. Suddenly, Sydney laughed and shook her head. She looked at him, her eyes blazing with warmth. They looked like lamp lights, guiding him to a home he hadn't ever known, but he wanted to so very desperately. Oh yes, Sydney cared about him. She might even love him. This time, when he closed his eyes, he wondered what Sydney might look like if she was pregnant with his child. His eyes snapped back open. He had just crossed a major line. Sydney almost seemed to know it, too. She didn't react in the way she should have.

"What are you thinking about?" Sydney asked. Adrian immediately began to think up a lie. But what good would it do? If he was honest with her, maybe she would get up and walk out. It would do irreparable damage to whatever strange relationship they currently had, but would that really be such a bad thing? It might save Sydney. It might save both of them.

_You __don__'__t __have __a __sense __of __right __and __wrong, __do __you?_

Better late than never.

"I was wondering what you would look like if you were pregnant with a half-vampire baby." Adding that the baby was his in particular didn't seem necessary. Even someone who was as confused by the lack of logic in social cues as Sydney wouldn't have a hard time figuring out the implication. Adrian was pretty sure it was written all over his face anyway. Besides, this was something that had been long time coming, Adrian reasoned with himself. And there was always the slight chance that Sydney might think that this was an episode of temporary insanity brought on by spirit.

He studied her face, fascinated in the most twisted way by range of emotions that flitted back and forth. There was a little bit of fear and a whole lot of surprise. Some curiosity along with anticipation. When she finally spoke, her face was entirely neutral.

"I'd probably look exactly the same as I would if I was carrying any kind of baby," she said with astounding calmness.

"I think you would look a little bit afraid," Adrian told her.

"Is that what you _really_ think?" What kind of cliché therapist question was that?

"No. Well, kind of." Realistically the answer was yes, but in the fantasy that had yet to fade, Sydney wasn't afraid at all. She looked even happier than she had when Adrian presented her with a copy of some book with ridiculously advanced chemical equations for her to do in her spare time. And she had been pretty happy then.

As Sydney bit her lip again, lost in thought, Adrian wondered if she was thinking along the same lines as he was—the very fact that they were talking about this was insane. Suddenly, Sydney let out a soft sigh and leaned against Adrian, her eyes closed.

"It would never work, you know," she said. "You and me. No matter how much we wish it would, it just…_wouldn__'__t_."

_We_. It was such a magical would when used in this context. But all the same...

"I know," Adrian said dutifully.

"I mean, we could always run off with the Keepers," Sydney mused. "But that would require a lot of manual labor."

"And these hands still haven't gone much farther than using pine cleaner on the floor and counters," Adrian said, slightly amused. "You know, I can't believe you didn't tell me you use pine cleaner on wood."

"How'd you find out?"

"Internet. It's a glorious thing."

Silence fell and somberness was its companion. There really was no solution to their predicament. Nothing truly workable anyway.

"I can't lose you, Sage," Adrian said abruptly.

_You __don't __have __a __sense __of __right __and __wrong, __do __you?_

"I know," Sydney said quietly. "Don't worry."

Right," said Adrian. "Because that's your job. To worry."

"Exactly," Sydney said wisely.

_You __don't __have __a __sense __of __right __and __wrong, __do __you?_

The words haunted him. And that was partially why, in his darkened apartment—knowing full well that he was bringing disaster down upon them both—he kissed her gently.

Maybe he didn't know right from wrong, but Adrian was sure that if he scoured the Internet, he could find a quote pronouncing that right and wrong had nothing to do with love whatsoever.

* * *

><p>Jill buried her face in her hands, exasperated.<p>

"Jill?" Eddie asked. "You okay?" Jill looked at the dhampir and resisted the urge to make a face at him.

_Yes, __Eddie, __I'm __fan-freaking-tastic. __I __don't __know __if __you __were __aware __of __this __or __not, __but __I've __always __wanted __to __vicariously __make __out __with __Sydney __Sage __and __I'm __having __the __time __of __my __life __right __now._

"I'm great," Jill said tightly. "Never better."

"You know, Sydney ought to be back from Adrian's apartment by now," Eddie mused. "I wonder if they're okay."

"Oh, I'm sure they're just fine," Jill assured him even as she tried to cleanse her mind of the adorably timid, almost curious way that Sydney's lips pressed against hers—except _she_ wasn't kissing Sydney. _Adrian_ was kissing Sydney and he was really, really enjoying it, even though the angst of not knowing how much damage this was going to do was killing him.

_Ugh._

Jill was almost equally conflicted. She was happy for the two of them and she was relieved that the anticipation was over. She had known that something like this was going to happen for a while and the suspense had been exhausting. On the other hand, she was also annoyed by the fact that Sydney and Adrian were still being so dramatic about the whole thing. Couldn't they just live in the damn moment and be happy? Apparently not. And pushing all these complicated emotions aside, Jill was still grossed out at the fact that she was partially in Adrian's head right now.

For all that Sydney had once chewed out Adrian for forcing Jill to witness his sex life...how hypocritical.

"They're making little dhampir babies, aren't they?" Angeline said sagely. "That's good. They're both such weaklings it would be helpful for them to have an army of warrior children to protect them."

Eddie spluttered out some incoherent words, before going off into a tirade about how things were different here than they were with the Keepers and Angeline needed to learn that before she said something that really offended someone.

How ironic, Jill thought dryly. Slowly, she found herself being pulled back into Adrian's head and cringed.

_Double ugh!_

"Jill!"

Jerked back into her own head, Jill found herself gazing into a set of clear hazel eyes. For a reason she couldn't quite understand, she found herself wanting to throw herself into Eddie's arms, right then and there. She assumed it was because half of her was still with Adrian, so Jill forced the desire away. A flicker of something strange danced across Eddie's features and she wondered if he had read her emotions before she wiped them away. She hoped not. That would be awkward.

"Yeah?" Jill said, swallowing.

"It's past curfew," Eddie said slowly. "Do you know where Sydney and Adrian are?"

_They're __on __their __way __to__—__as __Angeline __so __eloquently __put __it__—__making __little __dhampir __babies, __so __don't __you __worry __your __guardian __head, __Eddie._

"I have no clue," Jill lied without hesitation. Poor Eddie. Angeline and her stories of life with the Keepers had blown his mind and Jill had a feeling he wouldn't take this new development with Sydney and Adrian very gracefully. Of course, she could be wrong, but she didn't want to risk it.

"You sure? Because you got that look that you always get when you go into Adrian's head." Eddie looked worried. "Is Adrian getting Sydney into trouble?"

_Define__ "__trouble.__"_

"Of course not!" Jill said indignantly. "Why do you always assume it's Adrian's fault anyway?"

"Because it usually is," Angeline said with all her usual tact. Jill eyed her two dhampir friends. If they only understood...

But they didn't. They couldn't comprehend the depth of Adrian's feelings for Sydney, how determined he was to take care of her, to shield her from the things that terrified her—even if he himself was one of those things. He just wanted to make her happy. He loved her, no matter how bad he thought it might be.

_You __don't __have __a __sense __of __right __and __wrong, __do __you?_

"I've got to go do something," Jill said abruptly. She stood up and all but ran back to her and Angeline's dorm room. She slammed the door behind her and threw herself onto her bed. She reached for the computer she kept stashed under it and pulled it up onto her lap. It was still on, she noticed. Crap. But there was still enough battery in it for her to complete her task. She opened the search engine and after a moment of thought to try and figure out how to word her question, her fingers were dancing across the keyboard.

Jill received a lot of useless suggestions, but finally found a promising site. She clicked on it and scrolled down the page until she found something akin to what she wanted. It wasnt anything close to what Adrian wanted, but Jill figured that she could say it to his face and maybe he would stop his stupid, whiney, Edward Cullen-esque bitching:

"_The aim of love is to love: no more, and no less__.__" _

_-Oscar Wilde._

* * *

><p>I actually found that quote in a book. I owe this chapter to <strong>pink n pretty <strong>**barbie**. After reading the update of her awesomesauce story, I was pondering about something totally random...and then I told myself, "You know what? You're being lazy. It's time for a kiss." So...there it is. And now I've done it.


	8. Fall Apart

So, I just finished _Clockwork __Prince_ (which was absolutely amazing if not extremely infuriating) and by the time I was done, it was 1 in the morning and I was in the mood to make my next Sydrian Shuffle chapter all about semi-angst and depressing poetry about love. Luckily, you all seem to like my semi-angst. In yet another stroke of luck, I went through a stage in eighth grade where I spent all my time writing shitty poetry about topics I didn't understand so I'm very experienced in the realm of shitty poetry which means I didn't have to rip it off from someone else. I proceeded to listen to my iPod and when this song came on, I was all like "..._hell_ yes!"

Anything you recognize is not mine. The poem is, as sad as I am to say.

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Eight: Fall Apart by Every Avenue<strong>

_Electrified we burn all night_

* * *

><p>Sydney knew she probably shouldn't rifle through Adrian's stuff—not just because it was an invasion of his privacy, but also because she was slightly worried about what she might find. Unfortunately, Adrian's bad habit of uncontrollable curiosity seemed to be rubbing off on her and that was how the Alchemist found herself staring, in complete and utter shock, at the worst piece of poetry she had read in a very long time (to be fair, Sydney rarely read poetry, but at the moment, that was a little fact that didn't mean much).<p>

_Jaded eyes that burn so cold_

_The most heartbroken story_

_I've ever been told. _

_I know you dream of eternal sleep_

_But with you in deep in slumber_

_I will be lost_

_Without anyone to remember._

_Sweet Mildred, oh Mildred_

_You are the sweetest flower_

_In the Garden of the wicked._

_Take my love and do what you will_

_But never forget_

_That for every day your heart beats_

_I do not fall apart._

Sydney frowned. The last bit didn't even rhyme, which wouldn't have been so bad if the _rest_ of the poem hadn't rhymed either. Sydney gritted her teeth, searching in vain for some kind of red pen she could use to make some corrections.

"Cute, isn't it? I've never really been into the whole writing-poems-to-woo-the-fair-lady thing, but whatever works, I suppose," Adrian drawled lazily from the doorway. Sydney jumped and dropped the paper guiltily. One might have thought that her guilt was brought on by being caught snooping through Adrian's things. One would be wrong. She felt guilty because of the relief that loosened the jealous knot in her chest that had formed at the thought of Adrian writing poetry for some girl, however horrible that poetry might be.

"That," Sydney said once she'd composed herself, "is probably because you aren't exactly the master of poetry. You may be a smooth talker, Adrian, but I can't picture you moping around writing...this stuff."

Personally, Sydney thought that "stuff was a generous description.

"Are you implying that Vince is a prodigy?" Adrian asked, eyebrows raised. For a moment, Sydney wondered who Vince was. Then she realized that Vince was probably the poet who had written the work that was currently the topic of discussion.

"Compared to you, or compared to people in general?" Sydney replied. Adrian smiled slightly.

"That's fair," he said. It was strange, Sydney realized, for Adrian to be acting this way. She would have thought he would have started arguing by now that there was nothing in the world Adrian Ivashkov could not do.

_Lovely.__ I'm __thinking __up __his __own __egotistical__ comments for him __now._

"Why do you have this?" Sydney asked, if only to distract herself from her own thoughts.

"I'm the delivery boy," Adrian said, walking into the kitchen and sitting at the table in the chair next to Sydney. "Mildred is in my oil painting class, which is at the exact same time as Vince's literature class. Also, the classrooms are right across from each other. I've never asked for specifics, but I'm assuming that that's where Romeo first managed to spot his lovely Juliet."

"So why can't he give it to her himself?"

Adrian was uncharacteristically quiet for what seemed like a lot longer than it really was. Sydney wanted to say something, anything, to cut the tension, but there was something mesmerizing about the the look on Adrian's face. His eyes were glittering in the low light, some distant emotion that Sydney couldn't understand turning the usually brilliant emerald green slightly darker than Sydney was used to. The corners of his mouth were drawn down slightly, his lips pursed just so _perfectly_. He sat so still he could have been a statue.

And maybe that was part of the appeal, Sydney thought, slightly amused. Maybe part of why she allowed herself to admit to Adrian's attractiveness was because he was completely and utterly silent.

"I think Vince thinks it might hurt less," Adrian said abruptly. "There's always the chance that Mildred will read the poem and tear it to shreds. I have to admit that the chances of her doing just that are pretty high. So Vince thinks that if_ I_ give it to her and Mildred thinks that it's a piece of crap, the rejection won't hurt as badly if he can't see it. He'd rather hear about it secondhand."

This time it was Sydney's turn to pause thoughtfully.

"Will it?" she asked, her words just as sudden as Adrian's had been. He looked at her seriously.

"Will it hurt less?"

Sydney nodded, watching more shamelessly than she ever had as a muscle jumped in Adrian's jaw. She wanted to look away, she really did, but she couldn't.

"Do you want me to tell you about heartbreak, Sage?" Adrian said finally, something almost like curiosity in his voice. "Do you want me to try as describe how it feels to be rejected? I don't know if it's really possible. It's one of those things that you don't really understand until it happens to you. But I can try."

And that was when Sydney realized that something was going to change tonight if she said yes. Something would change forever. In her, in him, in them. She also realized that, whenever Adrian Ivashkov was involved, it was impossible for Sydney to simply say no and walk away.

"Try," she said.

"Heartbreak feels something like this," Adrian said. He paused and took a deep, shuddering breath that seemed to wrack his whole body. Their gazes locked. For a single second, time stopped. And then Adrian began to speak.

* * *

><p>Adrian didn't know why he was bothering. He already knew that no matter how much detail he put into his words, Sydney wouldn't be able to grasp it fully. And then Adrian would have opened himself up, been entirely vulnerable, for no reason at all. He was wary of sharing his pain with her. Usually when he lamented to someone, he was drunk, lashing out, or being sarcastic. There would be none of that tonight.<p>

But he trusted Sydney with his vulnerability. It only seemed fair, since she trusted him. But Adrian had never been put in the sort of situation where he had given her his trust entirely, and that, he realized, was what was making this moment so much more intense than it really needed to be. This was the shift, the change.

"Heartbreak feels something like this," Adrian said. Words failed him for a moment and he tried to take a breath. Faces of the many people who had hurt him flashed behind his eyes and he shuddered. He blinked and then looked at Sydney. She stared right back, her eyes warm and trustworthy and seemed to say,_ I won't ever hurt you I swear_. He could breathe again.

"I can't speak for the whole world," he told her. "It might feel different for everyone, for every circumstance. But for me...for me, it feels like coming completely undone. One moment, you're one single person, whole and healthy. Then everything starts to crack and it _hurts_, like your heart really is breaking. And all the pieces just fall apart. And just when you think you can't take it anymore, everything goes cold. Not numb exactly, just cold. Cold."

Adrian wondered somewhat distantly if he looked crazy. He almost smiled at the thought. Who could blame him?

"That's about the time that the tears start," he continued. "Sometimes they don't last long. Sometimes they don't even come, just the feeling of a lump in your throat and burning in your eyes. Sometimes...sometimes they don't go away for a long time. And then the cold went away, and I was angry. So I broke something. I still don't know what because it got cleaned up before I got back. But it wasn't enough, do you understand? I needed to talk to _her_, needed _her_ to know what she'd done to me. I needed her to _see_."

When his attempt at explaining heartbreak had become a recount of his reaction to the knowledge that Rose was no longer his, had never really been his, but solely Belikov's the whole time, Adrian didn't know. He did know that it made something inside of him begin to burn again. Remainders of love for Rose? Wounded masculine pride? Who knew?

His voice was much quieter when he said, "So I went to see her. I lay awake at night sometimes, thinking about it. Those are the nights when I feel especially masochistic, so I make myself remember every little detail. From the look on her face when she told me I made myself a victim, to the sound of her voice when she told me that _we__ could __still__ be __friends_. Did you know that she looked at me like she pitied me? Well, of course you don't know. But that's what she did. She looked at me like I was something to feel bad for. As if she hadn't beaten down my ego enough by sleeping with Belikov on what I'm sure was a wondrous adventure. You were on that particular adventure, weren't you, Sage? Isn't that what landed you in the hot seat in the first place?"

"I was there," Sydney admitted. "I didn't really think it was that wondrous, but apparently, my idea of fun is a little bit different than everyone else's."

Adrian smiled the tiniest bit which confused him. He was supposed to be _angry_. But he wasn't. In fact, he was fairly unfeeling about the whole ordeal. So long as he kept his gaze on Sydney's face, letting himself drown in the sea of gold, this didn't hurt as much. It almost felt good, in the way pulling out a particularly painful splinter does. There was pain, but there was also useless satisfaction in knowing that it was out, gone, and the healing could begin. But could it really?

_Not __with __that__ giant__ Russian__ standing __around._

"I have to see him almost every day." Adrian's voice had become a hushed whisper and Sydney leaned closer to hear him, clinging to his every word. "And when I look at him, I see them together. It isn't hard. They always looked like they belonged together, and I could see it in their auras. I see it in _his_ every damn day. But I _loved_ her, so I jumped into a relationship with her the second I had the chance, even though I knew exactly how it would end. I think it might be easier if I could regret it, but I don't. I can't picture a world where I didn't try. Sometimes I think it would be even worse if I hadn't tried. But then I remember seeing them by the car, just before she went to talk to you while you and the other Alchemists were under house arrest. And then I wish that I never met Rose Hathaway."

There. He'd done it. He said her name. And it hurt just as much as he thought it might. Adrian released a low sigh and closed his eyes. He thought about Sydney, sitting beside him, and it occurred to him that Sydney might have learned more from watching him as he spoke about Rose than she had listening him try to describe what it felt like to have someone you loved break you. A fierce wave of emotion crashed over him without warning. He was swept away by the feeling of what seemed like protectiveness towards Sydney. He didn't want her to ever suffer as he had. But Adrian knew as well as anyone that he couldn't stop that from happening. Everyone got heartbroken, he knew. You didn't have to love someone romantically for them to destroy you. You just had to love them, to put everything you had in their hands. And Sydney didn't belong to Adrian alone. She was a creature of the world, he thought somewhat wryly, and she would be hurt at some point. But he could be there for her when that day finally came, and that would have to be enough.

As he remembered how dearly he had wanted someone to come and pick up the pieces that had been left of him every time he was hurt, Adrian thought that maybe it _would_ be enough. It was a slightly egotistical thought, that he could heal heartbreak, but when it came to Sydney, Adrian rarely thought rationally. And then he wondered...

What if Sydney broke _his_ heart somehow? It wasn't an impossible concept, but he couldn't help but think that his world might come crashing down if she did. He felt overcome with the need to beg her not to, although he knew that if she could be trusted with his vulnerability, she could be trusted with anything. He looked at her and was surprised by what he found: there was a tear trickling down her cheek.

She was the perfect image, something out of a portrait or a movie or something unearthly that he could never touch. He wanted to, but in that moment, Sydney Sage was as abstract and unreachable as Adrian thought an angel might be. She didn't seem to realize that she was crying and Adrian felt he ought to point this out to her. He had never had it confirmed, but Adrian had a feeling that Sydney didn't like crying in front of people.

"You're crying," he said, unsure of what else he could possibly do. God knew the words sounded cliché, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. _Why_ was she crying? Was it because she pitied him? He didn't think he could take that. Because that was one of the most wonderful things about Sydney: she didn't pity him. She was like a drill sergeant. If he fell, she told him to get his ass back up again. He didn't know what he would do if that changed.

"I know," Sydney said. "I still don't get it, Adrian. You were right. But...thanks for trying."

There was something she wasn't saying, something she didn't have the words for quite yet, but Adrian could be patient when he really tried and whatever it was that Sydney wanted to say...it would be worth waiting for. He knew that much instinctively. He watched her face and noticed that she wasn't looking at him with pity and fought back the need to exhale a sigh of relief. He wasn't used to the expression on her face so he couldn't say exactly what it was. Out of respect for the Alchemist, he usually ignored her aura the best he could. He might have studied it, just this once, but like Sydney's face, it was basically unreadable. It was a blur of colors, changing so quickly that they seemed to blend together.

She reached across the gap that was between them and took his hand that was closest, tangling her fingers in his as if it were as natural as breathing. It was a small gesture, but it sent idiotic tingles throughout his body. It was more than enough.

But that was the essence of Sydney Sage, wasn't it? She went above and beyond what she ever really had to do. Adrian studied their fingers, laced together. He wanted to paint it, to bring it to life in burning colors of gold and beige and the purity that it was.

His eyes drifted away from their hands, towards Vince's poem.

"It's call _Stay_," Vince had said. "Will you tell her that?"

Adrian didn't know Mildred's story, nor did he know how Vince knew about it, but he had a feeling that, despite what he had told Sydney earlier, Mildred wouldn't rip up the poem.

_But never forget_

_That for every day your heart beats_

_I do not fall apart._

Adrian looked at the last few lines, then at Sydney, then back at the poem. He considered the possibility that if one looked at it from the point of view of the person whom Vince had written the poem for in the first place, maybe it wasn't so shitty after all.

* * *

><p>And that's about as literate (and deep) as you can expect me to be at 1:56 AM, even though this won't get posted until the morning...preferably the <em>late<em> morning.


	9. Down By The Water

Whoa. Can I just say that my mind was totally blown by all the awesome reviews I got? I don't thank you guys enough... Also, I was amused by how many other people finished Clockwork Prince at the same time I did. It's like magic! Anyway, I have the chapter after this fully completed, and I'm working on the holiday themed chapter right now, so don't worry, there _will_ be one and it _will_ be up by Christmas. On another cheerful note, I love The Drums, especially this song. Sometimes I burst out singing it at random. I might as well add that I do a very poor job of it.

Disclaimer: Not mine. *sob*

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Nine: Down By The Water by The Drums<strong>

_If you fall asleep_

_Down by the water_

_Baby, I'll carry you_

_All the way home_

* * *

><p>Jill Dragomir was confused. It wasn't the first time she had been completely stumped like this, but it was quite possibly the most frustrating because this time, all her friends were in on it (aside from Micah, of course, but Micah was rarely truly in on anything, now that Jill thought about it). Adrian and Sydney were exchanging sly glances, Eddie was looking anxious about something, and Angeline was...well, Angeline.<p>

"They're hiding something from you," she announced as they were changing out of their school uniforms to go to Clarence's for Jill's feeding. Jill dropped her hairbrush with a loud clatter.

"I knew it!" she hissed angrily.

"It's an early birthday surprise," Angeline said. She shrugged. "I'd tell you what it is, but Sydney told me she would shave my head if I told you we're going to the beach today."

"Sydney _threatened_ you?" Jill repeated once she'd picked up her jaw up off the floor, along with the brush. "_Sydney_ threatened _you_?"

"I heard you the first time," Angeline grumbled. She was obviously displeased that Jill was paying attention to the wrong bit of information. But the it clicked.

"We're going to the beach for my birthday?" Jill gasped. She felt tears prick at her eyes. She had been told a week ago that she wasn't allowed to see her mother for her birthday. That had been resting over her head gloomily ever since the call came. She knew everyone had picked up on it, but she didn't think they were actually going to _do_ anything about it.

"It's was Sydney's idea to take you some place with water," Angeline said instead of answering. "Eddie said the beach. He knows about some hidden away spot when you can play with the water all you like and no one will see. So that's where we're going after Clarence's house. It's all been cleared with Mrs. Weathers."

"But Sydney hates everything to do with Moroi magic," Jill said, puzzled. Angeline shrugged and began searching for something. This was Jill's cue to stop asking questions, so she did. Instead, she let her gratitude for her friends fill her up until she thought she might burst. Her initial reaction was to go find them and hug them until they couldn't breath anymore, but she remembered Sydney's threat to Angeline. If she hadn't seen firsthand the extent of Sydney's wrath (Laurel being the case in point), she would have taken the threat very lightly. But there was something very passionate about Sydney, and Jill had no doubt she would carry through with her threat if she found out the cat had been let out of the bag. So Jill decided she would pretend to be surprised. She let herself wonder how hard Adrian must have worked to hide this from her. And Eddie hated to keep secrets from Jill so this must have been a strain on him, too. Jill smiled through her tears, so happy she had friends like them.

"Let's go," Angeline said gruffly, taking hold of Jill's arm and all but dragging her out. Jill grinned stupidly. Even Angeline was a good friend, she decided giddily. She wiped away the tears with her free hand. It would be hard enough to hide that she was in on the secret from everyone as it was. She didn't need to come up with some lie to explain away the tears.

The girls met Sydney and Eddie at Sydney's car. The two were deep in discussion, but stopped talking immediately when they saw Jill coming. They had been doing this for some time and now that Jill knew why, it didn't annoy her anymore.

"Ready?" she asked cheerfully. Sydney and Eddie raised their eyebrows quizzically in perfect sync. They really were like twins sometimes, Jill thought, still happily dazed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Angeline slap her palm to her face and Jill realized how obvious she was being. She blushed slightly.

"Can we go now?" Jill squeaked, ducking into the backseat before anyone could say a word. She didn't say another word the whole ride.

When they made it to Clarence's, Jill all but ran inside. She nearly crashed into Adrian who was talking quietly to Sonya. Adrian's eyes lit up when he saw her which came as somewhat of a surprise. Then he turned his gaze to the front door, suddenly looking very impatient. Jill was still confused until bits and pieces of his thoughts started spilling into Jill's mind.

Sydney. Sydney. Sydney. Jill was here so Sydney was here. Sydney was here. Where was Sydney? Why wasn't she inside the house yet?

Jill's smile grew. She looked at Sonya and found the older woman studying Adrian. No, not Adrian, Jill realized. His aura. There was a slightly bemused expression on Sonya's face and Jill hoped Sonya wouldn't mention anything just yet. Then Sonya looked at Jill and something passed between them. It was an agreement, a silent promise to keep what they both had seen a secret. They shared a small, conspiratorial smile.

"Hello, Sonya," Sydney said as she came into the house. The formalities had been cut between the two of them since day one and the familiarity had only grown. Knowing that Sydney had been the only one in their group to see Sonya as a Strigoi, their connection puzzled Jill a little bit. On the other hand, she supposed that Sydney was one of the first people Sonya had seen once she was alive and well again, so maybe it made some sense that the spirit user would like being around Sydney.

Meanwhile, Sonya was looking at Sydney the same way she had been looking at Adrian. Jill wondered what Sydney's aura looked like right now. She heard distantly the sound of Eddie and Angeline coming inside the house and suddenly remembered that they were going to the beach. A grin nearly split her face in two. She knew without a doubt that today was going to be a good day.

* * *

><p>Eddie hated keeping secrets from Jill. It went against his nature as her guardian to do so and not telling her about her birthday surprise had been killing him for the last week. But he knew it would be worth it, and that was the only thing that had kept him going. And when Jill saw the ocean stretching on for what looked like forever, he decided that it was more than worth it. His charge was all but squirming to get out of the car, something that took a bit of work since it was a nearly impossible squeeze because Sonya had decided to tag along.<p>

"Why is Sonya coming back to Amberwood with us?" Jill had asked, looking almost suspiciously innocent. Eddie normally would have noticed it, but he was so overcome with guilt from hiding his knowledge of the trip from her that he let it slide.

He mumbled something about Sonya needing to "sign papers for Angeline or something" before scurrying back to the car.

And now? Now, Jill was staring at the water, looking so happy, so beautiful that it made Eddie ache. Then she turned her joyous smile onto _him_ and he tried to keep his face a mask of nothingness. His mask had cracks when it came to Jill, though, and Eddie wondered how much was spilling through to her. Jill leaned into him and said very softly, "Thank you, Eddie."

Her lips brushed against his cheek lightly and then she was gone, out of the car and looking ready to tear down to the water. Eddie saw that Sonya, Angeline, and Sydney were actually physically restraining the girl. He shook his head and climbed out of the car. Then he saw Adrian looking at him with a wicked smile.

"What?" he asked defensively. Adrian smirked infuriatingly and Eddie got a bad feeling.

"Nothing," Adrian said. "But you really should wipe that lovestruck look off your face, Castile, before someone calls the love police." And then Adrian walked away, Eddie staring after him. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. His first thought was that Sydney told Adrian, but then he reconsidered. That wasn't like Sydney, he decided. Then he remembered that Adrian could see auras. He scowled deeply. Eddie _knew _he didn't have his emotions written across his face.

"_Eddie!_" Jill shouted. His guardian instincts kicked in and Eddie looked around for danger. Then he realized that Jill just wanted him to hurry up. Everyone was already walking away. It didn't take long to catch up, and Eddie studiously ignored Adrian's glances that no one else seemed to notice. Then Jill flounced over and began chatting animatedly, her eyes very bright and her good mood infectious. Eddie knew that some people tried to zone out of Jill's babbling, but he couldn't imagine why. He was fascinated by it.

_But __you__ really __should __wipe__ that __lovestruck __look __off __your __face,__ Castile,__ before__ someone __calls __the __love __police._

Eddie resisted the urge to make a rude hand gesture in Adrian's general direction. He didn't know why the Moroi was so smug about the comment. It wasn't one of his best. In fact, he seemed to use all his best jokes while he was with Sydney like he was trying to impress her or—

"There it is!" Jill squealed, interrupting Eddie's thoughts before they could really go anywhere. He followed where her pale hand was pointing and took in the view of the ocean. It really was impressive, he admitted to himself grudgingly. The strange group walked along the sand until they found a spot that was fairly secluded. Jill wasted no time charging into the water, soaking her clothes completely, laughing the whole time.

Eddie followed, unquestioning.

* * *

><p>It was cute, Sonya thought to herself, as she observed Adrian and Sydney interact from the middle of the large blanket that everyone was sitting on. They were bantering back and forth gently, playfully, and Sonya remembered times with Mikhail that were very similar. She was watching both their aura's very carefully which was why she was the first to notice Sydney's aura flare with fear suddenly, although she seemed determined to fight it down. Adrian seemed to catch onto her fear a heartbeat later (although Sonya was fairly sure he saw it because he was watching her face rather than her aura) and Sonya followed his eyes as they traveled to where Jill was making the waves swirl around her while Eddie watched carefully. But as it always did, Adrian's gaze went back to Sydney.<p>

"Do you like sand dunes, Sage?" he asked, casual as ever.

"I hate them," Sydney replied through clenched teeth. Adrian grinned and jumped to his feet.

"I'm sure I can make you change your mind," he told her and pulled Sydney up. There was no resistance from the Alchemist, nor did she flinch from his touch. Sonya bit back a small smile. Maybe it was wrong of her to encourage such behavior, even silently, but being a spirit user, Sonya could see things that others could not. And she could see _them_, Adrian and Sydney, and all the beautiful potential that they had.

And there was absolutely nothing wrong with that, she had decided long ago.

Together they walked away, the vampire and the Alchemist. As soon as Sonya could no longer see them, she turned to Angeline who, to Sonya's surprise, was also watching the spot where the pair had vanished with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"I suppose you're used to it," Sonya said.

"Used to what?" Angeline replied, her voice the slightest bit defensive.

"Vampires and humans together." It didn't seem necessary to add that Sydney wasn't a regular human, despite the fact that it really did change the situation, adding even more complications to something was that already only a step away from impossible.

Angeline was quiet for a moment. "Not like them," she said finally. "Nothing like them."

Sonya had never seen Angeline this way, and as far as she knew, neither had anyone else. She wondered if Angeline was thinking about all the suffering Adrian and Sydney would have to go through to be together. But then again, if they could make it through that, they could make it through anything.

"I still think they're both too pretty to be useful though," Angeline grumbled, sounding more like herself. Sonya chuckled.

"I think you would like my Mikhail," she said. "He's quite useful."

"You love him," Angeline said. "You would think so."

And once again, Angeline showed Sonya a glimpse of incredible astuteness that she never bothered to show off for other people. Sonya leaned back on the blanket, letting the sun wash over her. Silently, she was thankful for the sun, just as she was thankful for Mikhail, for her happiness, for everything.

Sonya smiled, completely at peace.

* * *

><p>"So, do you like sand dunes yet?" Adrian asked teasingly. Sydney shot him a scowl.<p>

"No," she said. "And I swear Adrian, if you ask me that one more time, I'm going to stuff your head into one of them until you drown in the sand. Then I'm going to take your corpse and throw it into the ocean and we'll see how much _you_ like sand dunes then."

Adrian laughed. Sydney couldn't blame him. There was no heart to her words. She knew he had dragged her away to get her away from Jill's magic and she was too grateful to him for that to truly be annoyed. She wasn't lying, however, when she said she hated sand dunes.

"What's not to like about sand dunes?" said Adrian and Sydney wondered, not for the first time, if Adrian could read her mind and wasn't telling her. Or maybe it was just as simple as the fact that he knew her better than anyone else. Ignoring both thoughts, Sydney looked around and frowned.

"I don't know," she said. "Everything's just so...so..._sandy_."

"Well now," Adrian said, impressed. "Nothing gets past you, does it, Sage?"

Sydney tried not to smile and failed. Then something occurred to her.

"You don't think Jill will be unhappy that we left, do you?" she asked anxiously. Adrian laughed again, although there was a sharper edge to it this time.

"With Castile around?" he said. "I don't think so."

"That's what I'm always trying to tell him," Sydney sighed. "But he's so convinced that Jill can do better than him."

"She can," Adrian said in a tone that would've been neutral if not for the brotherly affection. "But Jailbait doesn't _want_ better. She wants Castile and the sooner he realizes it, the less likely the chances are that I'm going to have to sit down and actually talk to him about it. About her."

Sydney tried to imagine Adrian and Eddie sitting down, smoking cigars and discussing Jill. She ended up in a fit of giggles. Adrian looked at her seeming slightly smug.

He said, "I haven't seen you laugh this hard since we went mini-golfing and you saw Dracula's castle."

At the memory, Sydney's giggles only grew more hysterical until she ended up toppling down into the sand. Her giggles turned into groans when she realized how long it was going to take to get all the sand out of her clothes. Adrian sat down beside her. If he had any issue with sand, he didn't mention it. Sydney refrained from making a comment about Adrian finally rolling around in the dirt with the rest of the peasants.

"I think our whole birthday surprise plan worked pretty well," Adrian observed pridefully. "I bet we could hatch a plot to get Castile and Jailbait together."

Sydney smiled at him.

"Let's do it," she said. Adrian took a stick and began drawing little figures in the sand, complete with lines and a step-by-step plan. Then the wind came lightly and blew it all away and Sydney started to laugh again, the freedom of it building up inside of her until she was afraid she might float away, as Adrian once told her she would.

Adrian looked up at the sky.

"We should probably get back now," he said. Sydney looked around them, trying to commit the scene to her memory. It was quiet, the sand dunes making what seemed almost like a barrier between them and the chaotic world.

They started to walk back towards where Sonya and Angeline were. It only took five minutes to realize that they were lost.

"Higher ground?" Adrian suggested.

It was as good a plan as any, so they crawled up to the highest place they could find. Sydney spotted them first.

Down by the water, Jill was finally out and Eddie was trying to dry her off with a towel, unaware that he was dripping water all over the girl from his own clothes and hair. Sonya seemed to be peacefully asleep and Angeline was building an elaborate (and heavily armed) sand fortress.

A rush of warmth hit Sydney and she suddenly felt slightly dizzy. She cared about these people. They were like family to her. She started to sway and Adrian caught her, steadying her. Him, too, Sydney thought. Adrian, too.

She couldn't imagine a life without any of them. She didn't_ want_ a life without any of them. It made her as happy as it made her sad. Adrian didn't say anything, just stood there with her, watching them. It was Sydney who broke the silence.

"Adrian?" she said softly. She felt slightly breathless.

"What is it, Sage?"

"I still hate sand dunes."

* * *

><p>I'd beg for reviews, but I think that would be unseemly of me...so maybe you could all just review because you want to...?<p>

Also, as a side note to** PryingLittlePandora:** Love your review. It totally boosted my ego, so thank you very much. I usually ship Will/Tessa, which works out great since a good friend of mine ships them too so we sit around squealing about it. There are definitely some J/T moments that get to me, but when it comes to pairings, I usually root for whichever guy I'm in love with (and one would be justified in saying that I have a type), going along with the logic of "Well, he doesn't _exist_ so obviously _I_ can't have him...but someone should." I don't know if I'd ever do a shuffle for Infernal Devices or Mortal Instruments. If I wrote for either one, it would probably be an angst-filled one shot with a smidgeon of hope at the end because that's the kind of mood those books put me in.


	10. Let It Die

I did it you guys, I did it! I got rid of my angsty-ness! Between this last chapter before the Christmas special and my Clockwork Prince one-shot, I'm all cheerful and ready for some holiday happiness! That and I'm done with the first semester of school!

Vampire Academy isn't mine.

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Ten: Let It Die by Three Days Grace<strong>

_I swear, I never meant_

_To let it die_

_I just don't care about you_

_Anymore_

* * *

><p>"There's got to be something you can do."<p>

Adrian eyed Sydney for a long moment before saying, "Your faith in my skills as a nurse is heartwarming, Sage. Really."

Sydney resisted the urge to release the loud whine of anxiety that was crawling up her throat. How could he be making jokes while there was an adorable kitten, sprawled out on his table, looking so horribly sick? Sydney glanced at the cat. Okay, so maybe he wasn't a little kitten, or even remotely adorable, but something about his scrawny frame and thinning, dirty fur tugged at Sydney's heart.

She had picked up the cat outside of Spencer's on a coffee run for Ms. Terwilliger. Said coffee was currently sitting on the counter, cold. The first thing the Alchemist had done was rush to Adrian's apartment, pleading with him to save the cat which was clearly ill. When Adrian told her that he wasn't a vet, Sydney had gone so far as to beg. After all, she couldn't bring the cat to the shelter or a legitimate veterinarian. He was obviously a stray. Sydney had never actually been to see a vet, but she had no trouble imagining someone in a white coat telling her that the cat needed to be put down and she wanted to gather the cat in her arms and bawl.

"You're our only hope!" Sydney protested, her amber eyes wide in her panic. She could see Adrian melting at her pleading gaze.

"Look," he said, "unless you've suddenly changed your morals about magic, there's nothing for me to do here."

Suddenly, Sydney felt as sick as the cat looked.

"You can't use your magic on him," she said firmly. Adrian let out an exasperated sound and stood up. He began to pace.

"Then what is it that you expect me to do?" he demanded. Sydney shrugged.

"Help him?" she tried. It was a pathetic answer, but she was in a pathetic situation.

"If it was anyone—_anyone__—_besides you asking, Sage, I would have thrown them out of this apartment the second you walked in with that thing," Adrian warned her. "But since it _is_ you...I'll try. Without magic." There was nothing flirtatious about his words. He spoke like it was an irrefutable truth that filled him with exasperation.

"Thank you," Sydney breathed, relieved.

"I'm going to regret this," Adrian muttered as he collapsed into a chair beside the cat. "I know I am." And, as if to prove the spirit-user's point, the weak old cat let out a hiss and swiped a paw in Adrian's direction. The end result was three shallow cuts on the back of his hand. Adrian sent Sydney a _look_ and she shot him a helpless shrug in response.

* * *

><p>"I think it's cute that you two are taking care of a cat together," said Jill when Adrian and Sydney informed the group of their new charge at Clarence's house several days later. There was a wide smile on her face.<p>

"My parents started with a cat," Angeline offered. "They started to procreate about a year later."

Adrian choked on the scotch that he had helped himself to earlier. Sydney squeezed Dracula—the name they had given the cat—fractionally closer to her chest. The cat let out a mewl of discomfort, but he was ignored.

"That's different," Sydney said.

"No," Angeline said. "Not really."

It had taken a while, but everyone had eventually learned that arguing with Angeline about the way the Keeper's lived their lives was absolutely useless, so the whole subject was dropped, although the thought was never far from their minds.

* * *

><p>Sydney didn't really believe in fate, but she did believe that it was some seriously good luck that she forgot to turn off her phone the day Adrian sent her a text telling her that Dracula was finally dying. There was nothing they could do.<p>

She didn't ask Ms. Terwilliger if she could leave, didn't try to come up with some brilliant excuse. She just got up and walked out. She took it in faith that after what her teacher had put her through, she at least owed Sydney a pass for this. And even if she got in trouble for leaving...she had to go to Dracula. This need spurred her to break several traffic laws. Once again, out of sheer luck, she didn't get caught and made it to Adrian's apartment in record time.

Sydney didn't bother knocking. The door wasn't locked anyway. In the distant part of her mind, she thought about lecturing Adrian of the dangers of not locking the door, but when she saw the Moroi in question hovering over her softly mewling beloved cat, she forgot her lecture entirely. There was a moment when she froze and took in the scene.

Dracula was lying on a soft blanket that was folded twice to keep his body away from the cold, hardwood table. Even if Sydney couldn't hear the heart-wrenching sounds he was making, she would've had known that his life was slipping away just by looking at him. And Adrian...Adrian was watching Dracula with anxious green eyes, his fingers curling and stretching out in repetition rapidly, like he was aching to reach out—reach out and heal the cat with spirit.

Sydney wanted to demand him why he wasn't doing anything before she remembered that he had promised her that he wouldn't use his magic on the cat. She felt conflicted. This wasn't unusual when it came to Adrian, but this time, it wasn't about _him_. There was another life at stake here.

Then Adrian noticed Sydney and relief crossed his features. He beckoned her closer and she complied without a word.

"He's really dying, isn't he?" Sydney said, half-horrified, half-astounded.

"There's only one thing left to do, Sydney," Adrian told her, an edge to his voice that Sydney hadn't ever heard before. There was also the pleasant jolt that hit her every time he used her name which was almost drowned out by the sight of her dying cat.

"So are you going to...do it?" Sydney asked, unable to use the actual words.

"Not unless you tell me to."

It seemed almost cruel of him to do that, to put her in the position in which _she_ had to play God. But that was probably the point, Sydney realized dryly. After all the freaking out she had done about Adrian using spirit (and magic in general), it wasn't really fair of her to ask him to heal a cat that didn't even like him very much. Still mulling over her thoughts, something else occurred to Sydney: how might she feel if Adrian was the one to make the decision to use magic on Dracula?

She wasn't quite sure at this point what difference it would make, but somehow she just knew that it was critical that she was the one who called the shots here.

She looked at Dracula, dying. Death was part of life, she reminded herself. But—

"I can't...we can't let it _die_," Sydney said. This was the first time she had ever referred to Dracula as "it" instead of "he."

"So," Adrian said making sure to enunciate every single word, "do you want me to use spirit to keep Dracula alive?"

"Yes."

"Say it." Sydney's eyes widened.

"We don't have time for this!" she cried.

"If he dies, I'll bring him back," Adrian said as if there was nothing strange about it at all. "Lissa told me about how she saved a bird once. I don't remember if it was a crow or a raven, but she brought it back to life. I think. Or maybe she just healed it. Anyway, having a shadow kissed cat isn't the worst thing in the world. Jailbait might like it."

Sydney knew that this was the part where she told him that bringing things back from the dead was wrong. But the words wouldn't come. She cast another look at Dracula. Was a _cat_ really going to make her change all the things she had been raised to believe?

No. Adrian was. Dracula was just pushing things along.

Her words were barely above a whisper when Sydney said, "Save him, Adrian. Use your...your magic, okay? Save him. I swear it won't change how I—what I think about you."

That seemed to be all he needed. Or maybe it was more than what was required. Sydney watched Adrian as he brushed his fingers against Dracula, the tension leaving his body. And then Sydney knew for a fact that no matter what she said, Adrian would have saved Dracula anyway. The thought made her feel warm even as it took all that was left out of her, sending her collapsing against the wall, her eyes never leaving Adrian and Dracula.

It really was magic, Sydney couldn't help but think as Dracula's fur grew back, thick and silky looking, the same exact color as Adrian's hair. His scrawny body seemed to almost _inflate_ as the muscle returned and he became the lean, sinewy, graceful predator that he had been born to become. His eyes were no longer cloudy, but clear and bright and intelligent. He was perfect in every way.

Sydney smiled. They really were similar, the cat and the vampire.

* * *

><p>"I don't know why you're so surprised," Adrian said smugly a full two hours later as he stroked Dracula's shiny coat. Sydney rolled her eyes, still scowling at the sight of the cat purring on Adrian's lap.<p>

"I'm not surprised," Sydney protested. "A little insulted maybe, but not surprised."

"Don't feel bad," Adrian cooed, and for a moment, Sydney thought he was trying to comfort her. Naturally, she was wrong. "Mean old Sydney Sage is just jealous that you like me better. But I don't blame you. _I'm_ the one who healed you, after all. Why wouldn't you like Daddy best?"

"Daddy?" Sydney repeated, on the very edge of an explosion.

"Daddy," Adrian confirmed.

"I'm the one who brought him home!" Sydney said indignantly. But Adrian wasn't paying her any attention. He was too busy playing with the cat. Sydney's eyes narrowed. With a swiftness she reserved for moments like these, she whipped out her cell phone and snapped a picture before Adrian even knew what was happening. She smirked at she looked at it. Oh yeah, she was good.

"What are you doing?" Adrian asked suspiciously. Dracula meowed loudly to express his annoyance at being ignored.

"I'm not doing anything," Sydney said, even as she hit the SEND button on her phone. Even as she shot Adrian her sweetest smile, the picture was being sent to everyone she knew.

Mass texting. It was a beautiful thing.

* * *

><p>Wouldn't that be the cutest Christmas card?<p> 


	11. Disarm

Here it is, you guys! The holiday special that we've all been waiting for! Unfortunately, I got addicted to writing Christmas specials, so I wrote a one shot holiday special for Infernal Devices. Not that I'm blatantly advertising it here or anything. By the way, the Shuffle has over 100 reviews! Thank you all so much!

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I won't say no if someone offers me VA for Christmas...

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Eleven: Disarm by Smashing Pumpkins<strong>

**(But would otherwise be titled something corny like "A Very Sydrian Christmas")**

_Disarm you with a smile_

_And leave you like they left me here_

_To wither in denial_

_The bitterness of one who's left alone_

* * *

><p>Sydney let out a sigh of exasperation and looked at Adrian wearily.<p>

"I don't know what I'm going to have to do to convince you," she said, "that there is _no __such __thing_ as a haunting ghost of Hanukkah past, present, or future." She didn't know this for sure, but she was pretty sure that there weren't. She was also pretty sure that Adrian was just arguing with her on this to annoy her. It was working.

"You can't prove that," Adrian said. "What are you, some kind of holiday fanatic?"

"I...I've never actually celebrated Christmas, not really," Sydney admitted hesitantly. Adrian stared her, positively horrified.

"For the love of God, Sage, _why_?" he exploded after a pause. "Never having played mini-golf is one thing, but skipping Christmas? I thought you'd be all over the sort of thing. I mean, isn't there some kind of Jesus pageant or something?"

Sydney was suddenly swarmed by the mental image of a bunch of toddlers at a beauty pageant, all in beards and robes and she almost chuckled. Then she cursed Adrian for putting sacrilegious thoughts in her head and moved back on topic.

"I never got the chance," Sydney said defensively. "I have a few memories of Christmas when I was about seven, but other things have always gotten in the way, usually Alchemist work."

"I can't imagine why," Adrian said. "Even we evil creatures of the night do take time off for the holidays, you know."

Sydney wanted to point out that today was Christmas Eve and Adrian was being as infuriating as ever, but didn't bother. She had a much better argument than that anyway.

"Strigoi don't," Sydney said grimly. "That was how I spent my last Christmas. Wiping memories from a Strigoi attack. And the Christmas before that I was in Bangkok with my father for educational purposes. The Christmas before _that_ I didn't want to do anything since I missed my sister Carly. It just goes on and on and on that way. But _this_ Christmas, I'm trying to get it through to you that there aren't any Hanukkah ghosts of past, present, or future. Christmas just...hasn't ever worked out for me."

"Wow." There was a moment where Adrian was perfectly still and Sydney wanted to groan. This was the look Adrian got when he was coming up with some elaborate scheme that usually made her want to murder him, slowly and painfully.

"Whatever you're thinking, Adrian, don't you dare do it," Sydney told him. One glance at his glittering green eyes and she knew that her words were futile. Luckily, Adrian Ivashkov was very easily distracted. Kind of like a bird, Sydney thought to herself. Or a two-year-old.

"We need to get to Clarence's soon," she said. "Everyone is probably wondering where we are."

"Not Castile," Adrian said. "He probably thinks you're hiding my mutilated corpse."

"An enticing thought," Sydney said, getting up. "Now let's go."

Adrian tugged absently at his shirt before saying, "I'm going to change first."

Sydney narrowed her eyes at him. Sure, he _looked_ perfectly innocent, but he had taken a shower...what, twenty minutes ago? Not that Sydney paid attention to things like that because she didn't notice small details about Adrian like how wet his hair was, no not at all.

"Do you want to join me?" Adrian asked with raised eyebrows, bringing Sydney out of her thoughts. As if he'd lit a match of tossed it at her, the Alchemist jumped backwards.

"No!" she exclaimed, maybe a wee bit too enthusiastically. She could see the corners of Adrian's mouth curving up and decided that it was probably for the best if she waited for him in the car. She all but darted out the door, not seeing Adrian pull his phone out of his pocket and dial a number he knew by heart.

"Hey there, Castile," Adrian said cheerfully. "Listen, I've got a plan. No, don't hang up! I—wait, what do you mean what am I planning to do to Sydney? I'm not planning on doing _anything_ to—well, okay. Maybe I am, but that's _so_ not the point!"

* * *

><p>When Sydney stepped into Clarence's house, her first thought was that it was way too quiet. Also, all the lights were off which was equally suspicious. She nearly died of a heart attack when the lights all burst on and everyone burst into a chorus of, "It's Starting To Look A Lot Like Christmas." Dimitri looked more reluctant to be doing so than anyone else and if Sydney wasn't so angry, the scene would've been hilarious. But she <em>was<em> pissed so—

"I hate you," Sydney told Adrian, glaring at him as he joined into the song. He paused, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

"Sage," he said kindly, "I'm doing you a favor here."

Right on cue, a banner dropped down. It was bright red and said in green cursive "BABY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS!" The word "baby" had been replaced with a piece of binder paper that had been hastily scribbled on with only one word: "Sydney."

"'Sydney's First Christmas,'" the Alchemist read aloud dryly. She wondered if she ought to point out that this was not entirely accurate, but decided that it wouldn't do any good.

"That's right," Jill said happily. "Have some eggnog. Oh, and wear these." Without Sydney's consent, an oversized (and very itchy) Santa hat was dropped upon her head with a flourish. She was also forced into what looked like a hand-knitted green sweater with little snowmen all in a line across the chest. As Sydney was passed around the group, she noticed that the walls had all been strung with either garlands of holly or rainbow Christmas lights. There were pin-up pictures of elves scattered everywhere, and all flat surfaces were covered in either food or little figurines pertaining to Christmas. When Dimitri patted her on the back, Sydney found herself almost crashing into a giant Christmas tree.

She noticed that almost all of the ornaments were handmade, with either Lee's name inscribed on them, or pictures of him as a child filling the frame. She looked at Clarence from across the room. He was knocking his glass of eggnog against Adrian's and talking animatedly, but she saw the shadows under his eyes.

It was true that Sydney wasn't the expert on holidays, but she knew that Christmas was supposed to be spent with family, or at least the people who loved you. She may not have wanted this impromptu Christmas celebration thrown, but for the sake of her friends who couldn't be with the people they loved, she would suck it up, and maybe even enjoy herself, just a little bit.

"Still hate me?" Adrian asked, sliding up next to her.

"Always," Sydney replied, shooting him a small smile. He smiled back and tugged lightly on her Santa hat, sending the brim sliding down to her nose which she wrinkled unhappily.

"I tried to fight him on this one," Eddie told her as he walked over. "But he wouldn't listen to me."

"Castile, would you kindly explain to Sage about the haunting Hanukkah ghosts of the past, present, and future?" Adrian piped up hopefully. Eddie stared blankly as Sydney let out a low sigh.

* * *

><p>"This is an awful idea," Angeline observed.<p>

"It's a great idea!" Jill argued. "Totally foolproof."

"If there is one thing that mistletoe can't be described as," grumbled Angeline, "it's 'foolproof'. Poisonous to people and parasitic to trees, yes. I wouldn't expect you to know that since _you_ didn't grow up eating wild plants. But _everyone_ knows that using mistletoe is practically asking for trouble."

Jill chose to ignore her partner-in-crime's pessimistic attitude and continued stringing up the tiny plant up on the top of the frame of the kitchen door.

"I'm getting tired of waiting," she said crossly. "And Christmas is all about forbidden romance, right?" Angeline shrugged.

"That's one way to interpret it," she said neutrally. "But I don't want anything to do with this." And then she walked away. Jill made a face at the other girl's back and patted the mistletoe one last time, just for good luck. Then she smiled smugly. Adrian wasn't the only one who was good at coming up with elaborate schemes.

* * *

><p>"Oh no!" Jill exclaimed, clapping a hand to her forehead theatrically. Adrian noticed that Angeline was rolling her eyes, but he figured that it was just because Angeline would never be quite so dramatic and didn't have the patience for people who were.<p>

"What is it?" Eddie asked, always the concerned guardian.

"I left the pumpkin pie in the oven," Jill said.

"I'll get it," Eddie offered. He leapt to his feet, only to have Jill yank him back down.

"No," she all but growled. Then her face turned completely innocent. "I think Sydney should get it. It's kind of a Christmas tradition, right? For the new person to get the pie, I mean."

"But I don't know where anything is!" Sydney protested rather than questioning the existence of such an idiotic tradition. Adrian didn't blame her for not wanting to move; she looked extraordinarily comfortable on the sofa.

"Adrian does," Jill said.

"What Jill wants," Angeline said with all her usual bluntness, "is for Sydney and Adrian to go get the pie. Together." Sydney muttered what sounded suspiciously like mild curses under her breath, but it was impossible to deny Jill anything, so she got up anyway and Adrian followed.

"Is pumpkin pie really worth this?" Sydney asked him as they slipped into the kitchen.

"Walking the whole twenty feet to the kitchen, you mean? Well, that depends on who made the pie." Sydney didn't appear to have a response, so all attention was focused on finding plates and knives and pan-handlers. Suddenly, a piece of information struck Adrian like a bullet.

"Clarence doesn't have an oven," he said. "I mean, he does, but it's broken."

"I can't believe that you _just_ felt like mentioning this," Sydney said sharply.

"I forgot," Adrian said defensively. "Besides, Jill's the one who started this, not me."

"Wait, are you saying Jill lied?"

"No, Sage, I'm sure she's just suffering from temporary memory loss and she just _thought_ she put a pumpkin pie in the oven."

"I say we go back out and yell at her," Sydney announced, clearly displeased at having made this trip for no reason at all.

"That sounds like a plan," Adrian said. "Especially if Clarence stole my eggnog when I so generously offered to escort you to the kitchen and—" He cut off mid-sentence as they were standing in the kitchen doorway, staring up intently at something above them.

"What?" Sydney asked impatiently.

"Jailbait," Adrian growled. She was the one behind this, she had to be. Only Jill would think of putting mistletoe up and then manipulating him and Sydney into going to the kitchen. Apparently, this was what he got for ignoring her when she harassed him about his "feelings".

"I know that she shouldn't have lied to us, but it isn't _that_ bad," Sydney said, surprised.

"Mistletoe," Adrian said shortly. Sydney frowned.

"Mistletoe?" she repeated, looking puzzled. Then she looked up, following Adrian's gaze. "What about—oh. Oh!"

Much to Adrian's amusement, Sydney proceeded to turn an interesting shade of pink. It seemed to be that, as lacking as Sydney's education in good holiday cheer was, the connection of mistletoe and kissing was not lost on her. Then Adrian remembered that _he _was the one standing under the stupid plant with her and suddenly, the situation wasn't funny anymore.

It was one of the world's most cruel injustices, he decided in that instant, that Sydney could stand there looking like temptation personified with her lips parted slightly as she blushed furiously, and there was no move Adrian could make that seemed to tilt in his favor. Kissing her seemed like a good idea, but he remembered the damage Sydney had done to Lee's face and repressed a shudder. Admittedly, the situations were completely different, but the point was that Adrian knew better than to bring down the wrath of Sydney Sage when she was already in a bad mood. But somehow, _not_ kissing her seemed like an even worse idea. He felt like it might be the sort of opportunity that he would never get over passing up. So what was an evil creature of the night to do?

"Well," Sydney said, "I guess we really ought to follow tradition."

Her words caught him off guard, but Adrian wasn't idiotic enough to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"I suppose we should," he agreed. There was a tiny pause, a moment of hesitation, before Adrian touched Sydney's arm and brought her stumbling just an inch closer. She _wanted_ this, he could tell, but that didn't lessen the surprise at all when she was the one who reached up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.

It was a light kiss and for maybe a second, he was content with that. But suddenly, it wasn't enough which was Adrian's only excuse as to why he deepened the kiss and continued to pull her closer until they were pressed right up against each other. It was a wonderful feeling, he thought to himself dizzily, to feel her body heat, her racing heart, her sinful temptress lips.

Distantly, he thought he heard a voice that sounded suspiciously like Jailbait exclaiming, "_Yes_! See, Angeline? I told you so! Poisonous and parasitic, my ass!" but he found that the world was very easy to ignore when he had Sydney Sage, entirely disarmed and so very pliant in his embrace.

She pulled back first, blinking rapidly and breathing heavily. Adrian almost smirked at her disheveled state. Almost, but he didn't because he had a feeling he was already walking on very thin ice here.

"So _this_ is Christmas?" Sydney asked.

"Indeed it is," Adrian said, although in his experience, this was very much not Christmas. Christmas to Adrian was getting drunk of eggnog and making passes at the unfortunate carolers who walked by, then infuriating his parents by wandering around until he was brought back by exasperated guardians. Needless to say, warnings of getting nothing but coal in his stocking had never had much of an effect on Adrian's behavior.

"I've been missing out," Sydney muttered to herself before pulling Adrian's mouth back to hers. It didn't catch him entirely by surprise this time, and he had no complaints whatsoever.

As she watched gleefully from around the corner, Jill murmured to Angeline, "If this is Christmas, just imagine New Years."

* * *

><p>Yes, just imagine New Years. You guys are going to have to since I'm going to be really busy and don't know if I'll have time to write a New Years themed one-shot. Anyway, what I really need to do is thank <strong>pink <strong>**n ****pretty ****barbie** (again) because part of the review for the last chapter was "Now you just need to get some lip action under some mistletoe for the Christmas special" and when I read that combined with listening to "Disarm" on repeat, the whole scene kind of wrote itself in front of my eyes. Like a Christmas miracle! ;) Happy holidays everybody!


	12. Crawling

So, this isn't New Years themed, but don't worry, there's still Valentine's Day...and St. Patrick's Day...and Easter...and my birthday...etc. Anyway, I've always sort of had this idea, even before I decided to do the Shuffle as a chapter story. I had just the beginning, a sort of image in my head, but there was never anything concrete to really write. Then I woke up at 3:30am with my earbuds in with this song blasting and the whole thing was just there so I wrote it all down in my notebook and fell asleep again. And here it is, after being edited only about fifty times.

Disclaimer: Not mine...insert dramatic sigh here.

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Twelve: Crawling by Linkin Park<strong>

_There's something _

_Inside me_

_That pulls beneath the surface_

_Consuming, confusing_

* * *

><p>If anyone asked, Sydney would insist that she was a light sleeper. Adrian knew for that a fact that this was not true, not when he was involved anyway. He knew this because most mornings, he could spend a good ten minutes with his fingers crawling across every inch of pale skin he had access to. In all the years that Adrian had kept up this tradition, Sydney had never once woken up. It seemed a bit odd, even to Adrian, that exploring that planes of flesh that was Sydney Sage never seemed to get old, but he never put much thought into it.<p>

Specifics were never really his thing anyway.

* * *

><p>The first time Adrian had woken up to find Sydney sleeping beside him, he wondered how even he had managed to land himself in such a bizarre (and potentially catastrophic) situation. Too much pent up sexual tension had been his final verdict, with the catalyst being Trey of all things, so maybe "unnecessary jealousy" would be more appropriate. There hadn't been a discussion, or even an argument, not a single word. Just a fierce kiss, the kind of kiss that turned empires into ruins, common sense into insanity. And then surrender. Exquisite surrender.<p>

He impressed himself by having such a clinical (if not slightly poetic) reaction to his memories, but he figured that Sydney could do all the panicking for them both. After waiting quite some time for her to wake up, Adrian decided that he really ought to commit her to his memory.

He started with a single lock of her hair, curling it around his fingers while being careful not to pull. Even as gentle as he was, he thought it was nothing short of a miracle that the Alchemist slept through it all. Adrian grew the tiniest bit braver, brushing one of his fingers down her cheek. He didn't dare breathe the whole time, but when she still didn't wake up, Adrian come to the conclusion that the chances of him disturbing her sleep with his touch was low enough for him the explore the curve of her throat, feeling her steady pulse. Growing bored with her neck, he glided his fingers down to her exposed shoulder gently, circling around the marks he had left on her without meaning to. They filled him with a sort of smugness that he knew was wrong but had absolutely no control over.

Finally, Sydney opened her eyes. When she didn't say a word, Adrian figured that she wasn't even really awake in the sense that she had any clue just what the hell was happening. Sydney curled closer and buried her face into his chest, pulling the blankets farther up. Adrian's hand fell to the dip of her waist and he realized just how _tiny_ she really was. He drummed his fingers against the small of her back, happy to have more skin to explore.

"What time is it?" Sydney asked, her voice muffled. Adrian had a clock on his bedside table, but he didn't want to roll over to look at it. What if it jostled her into full consciousness?

"Probably the beginning of my night," he said vaguely. Sydney let out a quiet grumble of discontent and said something almost inaudible about his unholy nocturnal schedule and then a complaint about how lazy she was getting. It left open room for a lot jokes, but all Adrian wanted was for Sydney to fall back asleep. He was fairly sure he knew what was going to happen when she was fully conscious: she was going to leave.

She was going to break his heart.

To say Adrian didn't mind would be untruthful, but he did accept it as inevitable. He didn't like it one bit, but he didn't blame her. Besides, it was probably what was best for them both and Adrian would be content if he just had a few more minutes with her.

The next time she opened her eyes, there was perfect clarity in them and Adrian knew Sydney was fully awake. Sure enough, she sat up perfectly straight, forgetting entirely to pull the blanket up with her. So maybe not _totally _awake.

She didn't say anything, or even move for a long time, but Adrian recognized the look on her face. It was the look she got when she ran into a problem that didn't have an immediate answer. Adrian wondered if that was that this was, what they were, some _problem_. The thought hurt, just a little bit, but Sydney hadn't started running yet. Suddenly, the oddest expression crossed her face and finally, she spoke. They were most definitely not the words Adrian had been expecting.

"I'm going to take a shower."

She spoke quietly, awkwardly. Uncertainly. He tried to keep his heartbeat at a normal pace, tried not to feel hopeful, but those six words were starting to make him feel irrational again.

"Don't you dare peek," Sydney warned him. Adrian smiled against all reason and clapped the hand he wasn't using to prop himself up over his eyes.

"Scout's honor," he said.

"And yet for some reason," said Sydney, "I'm not at all reassured." For a moment, it felt like everything was back to normal, aside from the slight strain in both of their voices, but as Adrian listened to the sound of sheets rustling across skin that he knew first-hand was like satin to the touch, he was very conscious of the fact that things were very much _not_ the same. He continued to follow the sound of her footsteps, having paid enough attention to the way she walked to notice the slight limp. He recognized the gentle sound of the shower turning on and then the slight change in pressure when a human body moved under the spray a minute or so later.

Adrian kept his eyes closed for almost a quarter of an hour. Then he lost his patience to his more impulsive desires and followed the path Sydney had made, all the way into the shower. To his pleasant surprise, Sydney didn't protest at his intrusion, nor did she argue when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him, dropping his lips to her temple lightly.

No fight. No struggle. Nothing. So while he waited for her reaction, he soaked in the feel that was all her.

Sydney's skin felt different, he noticed with the slightest bit of surprise, which he knew was silly of him. Adrian had always known that wet skin felt different, but he had never really thought about it until now. Less like silk, more like...rubber?

He never asked her what she spent those fifteen minutes alone and her peaceful silence thinking about; he didn't know if he wanted the answer. In fact, he was almost positive that he didn't. He didn't want to hear that she was thinking of all the ways she could diplomatically tell him that what they had done was wrong in all ways and that they could never speak of it again. He didn't want to hear that she had been mentally calculating all the damage control she would have to do.

It was possible that she hadn't been thinking that at all, but it was a risk Adrian didn't want to take.

But now...now, any qualms Sydney might have had seemed to have washed away and she let herself mold against him perfectly with the softest, most wonderful sigh of contentment that Adrian had ever heard in his life.

* * *

><p>Say what you like about Alchemists, Adrian thought to himself back in the present, but his sure as hell knew how to make an omelet.<p>

"Is this why you keep me around?" Sydney asked as she watched him devour her food. "Because you love breakfast in bed and I'm the only person you know who would ever spoil you this badly?" Adrian looked at her solemnly, taking in the way his shirt hung loosely on her small frame, her hair in golden tangles around her face. There was a playful glint in her amber eyes that made him smile.

"That," Adrian said, "and I get cold at night, so a personal heater is always nice. Plus, if I didn't have you, who would I have to give nausea-inducing pet names to, my lovely Sugar plum?"

It was true that he had racked up an impressive amount. "Angel face," "Buttercup," "Snuggle bear," and "Goochie Goo" were the ones that tended to annoy Sydney the most, much to Adrian's personal amusement. From the aggravated look on Sydney's face, Adrian was pretty sure that "Sugar plum" was going to be sticking around for a while.

"Has anyone ever told you that sarcasm is an unattractive trait?" Sydney asked, stealing a sip of his apple juice. He made a face at her, wrapping his hand protectively around the cup.

"Yes. Coincidentally, it was the same people who told me the same thing about hypocrisy."

Sydney laughed and shook her head. "I'm serious," she insisted, not looking very serious at all. "If you had any more problems taking anything seriously, you would have to come with a warning label."

"I already do, Sage, I already do," Adrian said. Then he paused and frowned. "Okay, I'm starting to see your point."

"It'll be okay," Sydney said, patting his hand. She took the empty plates and glasses, setting them out of harms way on the floor by the bed. She knew that Adrian was prone to very physical theatrics and didn't feel like cleaning up broken glass—again. Just as she had suspected, Adrian threw himself back, sprawling across the bed and dragging Sydney with him

"I'm going to be a lonely old man with no company but a couple hundred cats," he said. "Cats which I will speak to sarcastically. How is that okay?"

"What am I?" Sydney asked with faux indignity. She pulled herself over, straddling his hips with her palms splayed out flat against his chest. "The mail lady? I'll come visit you, you know. Just to make sure you aren't eating your cats or anything."

Adrian chuckled. There was something both very funny and very enticing about Sydney being assertive, but he would never tell her that. "You're my blessing," he told her sincerely and Sydney smiled.

"That's what I like to hear," she said. "If you keep that up, I just might make you another omelet." She lifted one hand to tap his nose lightly, but he caught her wrist gently halfway.

"Later," Adrian said softly because he was more than happy making circles with his thumb on Sydney's wrist with one hand and exploring the softness of her thigh where it was pressed against his stomach with the other. She shivered slightly and he couldn't resist an even wider smile.

As fun as it was letting his fingers crawl across Sydney in the last minutes of when she was asleep, he had discovered that it was much more fun when she was wide, wide awake.

* * *

><p>And that...was different. Not very long, but hey, you get what you give. And since my subconscious came up with this for me...<p> 


	13. They Said A Storm Was Coming

I've always wanted to rewrite a part of a book from a different character's point of view, so I took the chance with this one. Consider it an experiment. And why this chapter is longer than all the other ones I've written. Usually I write stuff that's post Bloodlines (and probably post The Golden Lily, too), so I feel odd taking a step even farther backwards, starting just before the last chapter of Bloodlines. Which, by the way, isn't mine.

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Thirteen: They Said a Storm Was Coming by Jamie's Elsewhere<strong>

_Maybe now I'll be made clean_

_While I bathe in your seas_

_As I seek out all the dreams_

_That I once had_

_Of a life already lived, o__f a gift already given_

_That was taken from me, taken from me_

_Far too soon_

* * *

><p>Adrian swore, glaring at the splotch of Goldenrod paint which had fallen onto his couch when he dropped the roller, having been startled by his phone ringing. The walls were done, but his hidden perfectionist tendencies had reared its head with a vengeance. To be completely honest, it wasn't the stain that was probably never going to come out that bothered him—it wasn't like the piece of furniture could get much uglier. The reason he was so irritated was because the caller ID said his father was calling.<p>

"Shit, shit, _shit_," Adrian growled before answering the phone with a slightly more pleasant, "Hello?"

"I heard you're back in school." Well now. He hadn't really seen that one coming. There was a moment when he wasn't exactly sure what to say. This was why he tried to avoid talking to dear old Dad unless he was drunk—somehow it was so much easier to come up with answers when he couldn't really think.

"Yeah," he said finally. Adrian spent the pause that followed trying to guess what Nathaniel Ivashkov was going to say in return, but he gave up quickly. All he knew for certain was that it wasn't going to be along the lines of "good job" or anything else relatively complimentary. In fact, Adrian was pretty sure he was about to say—

"How long until you drop out this time?"

Adrian released a sharp breath from between his teeth and meandered to his nice new kitchen where he rested his elbows on the counter and let the granite surface support him. He needed it. Adrian wondered if his mother's arrest was what made his father so much harsher on him now. Not that it was important. Not that it would change anything. He didn't particularly feel like taking this verbal lashing, however justified it might be.

He fully intended on staying at Carlton, but he didn't think his father would believe him without a solid reason. Adrian also didn't think that the truth—"Well, there's this Alchemist girl who would kick my ass to hell and back if I dropped out again. Besides, she said she trusted me which is more than you ever so much as _offered_"—would be sufficient. He had very little faith that a subject change was going to work, but he was willing to try anyway.

"How's Lissa?"

"The queen is busy." The reply was vague, a sign that trying to go off topic wasn't going to happen. "And I'm not paying for you so go to school and waste it all away."

"No," Adrian said. "You really aren't."

The following silence had him cursing himself in his head. He hadn't chosen his words carefully enough, forgetting that his father was extremely skilled at nitpicking ever single word anyone ever said. He closed his eyes, envisioning his father stop his pacing abruptly, eyes narrowing suspiciously as he demanded, "Well, who _is _paying for it then? And don't tell me it's Abe Mazur."

At this, Adrian couldn't resist a dry laugh. "Abe? Are you kidding? He never wanted me out of Clarence's house in the first place."

Damn it. He'd done it again.

"I didn't know you were staying somewhere else." And it probably should've stayed that way.

_What is it that they say? "What you don't know could fill a book"? I like that one. I think it applies to you, Dad. _

Well, there was nothing for it but the truth now.

"I got it from the Alchemists," Adrian said, trying to hide the unease he felt from admitting this. It wasn't that he was unhappy getting something from the Alchemists so much as that he wanted to leave Sydney out of this. He inwardly shuddered at the thought of the only person in the world who believed in him meeting the person who believed in him the least. That was a disaster in the making.

"You can't trust them."

_Maybe not the Alchemists as a group, but I can trust _her_. I can't trust _you.

"This isn't about trust," Adrian said, exasperated. "This is about me not living with a half-senile old man. Also, I'm closer to the bus station so I don't have to walk as far."

It was a completely reasonable argument. Probably the most reasonable argument Adrian had ever given to anyone in his life.

"Isn't this dangerous enough as it is?" his father asked. "Think about the assassins, not to mention whatever else you might be getting into. Do you really want to add the Alchemists to this mess? A storm is coming, and you're going to be in the middle of it. Again."

"Are you saying I've landed myself in a mess?" Adrian asked dryly.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. And it would be just like you to make everything worse."

Adrian wondered if this was his father's way of being paternal. He decided that he couldn't make himself care either way. So he said, "Sounds like business as usual." And then he hung up, turning off the phone for good measure.

He put away the can of Goldenrod paint and cleaned off the roller, feeling like he was set on autopilot the whole time. Adrian was jolted out of his stupor by the sound of knocking on the door. He took a minute to decide not the answer. He stuck to this decision until the knocking grew even louder and much more insistent. Grimacing, Adrian finally opened the door, fully prepared to snarl at whoever it was to please screw the hell off. What he wasn't prepared for was Sydney Sage. Then he felt kind of like an idiot, finally remembering that she had told him she was going to come over today because they were going to meet the research party. Adrian took a moment to take in the sight of her, standing there somewhat awkwardly.

"Hi," Sydney said. Suddenly, he found himself feeling better. Not a whole lot, but enough to smile at her and move out of the way so she could step inside.

"Hi."

Her eyes widened when she saw the drastic changes he had made to the apartment in such a short time. "Whoa," she said. Sydney took another couple steps, peering at the living room walls. "Yellow, huh?" she said.

"It's called 'Goldenrod,'" Adrian said, unable to help himself. "And it's supposed to be cheerful and calming."

Sydney looked like she was going to say something, but stopped herself. Adrian wished she wouldn't. She had a habit of saying the funniest things, whether she was trying or not. She looked around the room again.

"How did you afford new furniture?" she asked.

"I sold the old stuff," Adrian told her, feeling slightly smug at having come up with the idea himself. "That recliner..." He stopped, the image of Lee, bleeding out on the chair flashing through his mind. But he didn't want to think about that. "That recliner was worth a lot. It was appallingly overpriced, even by my standards. But I got enough for it to replace the rest. It's used, but what choice did I have?" It had been a new experience, buying furniture that had belonged to someone else first. Adrian had learned the unfortunate lesson that cat pee was the sort of smell that just never came out.

"It's nice," Sydney insisted, touching the overstuffed plaid sofa. Adrian tried not to laugh. "Nice" was not a word he would've used, especially wish how horribly it clashed with the walls. But Sydney hadn't noticed the Goldenrod splotch and he was glad. "You must have done some savvy shopping. I'm guessing you don't buy a lot of used stuff."

Well, she'd definitely nailed that one.

"Try never," Adrian said, his smile returning. "You have no idea the things I've had to lower myself to." He looked at Sydney again and saw her studying the space where the recliner had once been. She turned her gaze to him, catching him looking at her. Instead of stopping, he said, "How are you holding up?"

"Fine. Why wouldn't I be?" She shrugged and immediately, Adrian came up with several reasons why Sydney wouldn't be "fine." She continued before he could speak. "What happened to me isn't nearly as bad as what Jill went through."

Once again, he disagreed, but this time he was determined to tell her so. He also wanted to get her to talk. It wasn't healthy to keep everything to herself the way she did. He crossed his arms, ready to go all Mother Hen on Sydney. "I don't know. Jill didn't watch a guy die in front of her. And let's not forget that same guy wanted to kill you only moments before in order to rise again from the dead."

Sydney was quiet and Adrian took that moment to pray that she was about to open up.

"I'm actually better with it than you might think," she said. "Like, it's terrible about Lee and what he did, but I feel I can get over it in time. Do you know what I keep thinking about the most, though?"

Adrian might have felt a surge of victory at getting to play therapist if he was talking to someone other than Sydney. But it _was_ Sydney and he very much wanted to hug her, to heal her, but he couldn't do that. So instead, he asked her very gently, "What?"

"Lee telling me I was wasting my life and staying aloof from people. And then, during that last meeting with Keith, he told me that I was naïve, that I didn't understand the world. And it's true to a certain extent. I mean, not what he said about you guys being evil...but, well, I _was_ naïve. I should've been more careful with Jill. I believed the best of Lee when I should've been more wary. I'm not a fighter like Eddie, but I am an observer of the world...or so I like to think. But I failed. I'm no good with people."

Adrian was slightly blown away by the extent of distress she showed, partly because Sydney rarely showed so much distress in the first place, but mostly because she was trusting him with this, with herself. This meant he really ought to be careful and dignified with his answer. But he was Adrian...and that was who Sydney was trusting herself with. So Adrian decided to give her a perfectly honest answer.

"Sage, your first mistake in all of this is listening to anything Keith Darnell says. The guy's an idiot, an asshole, and a dozen other words that aren't suitable for a lady like yourself."

"See?" she insisted. "You just admitted it, that I'm some kind of untouchable, pure soul."

The temptation to prove that of all the things Sydney might be, untouchable was _not _one of them only lasted for a second and he replied, "I never said any such thing. My point is that you're leagues above Keith, and what happened with Lee was dumb, ridiculous bad luck. And remember, none of us saw it coming either. You weren't alone. It casts no reflection on you. Or...maybe it does." Adrian arched his eyebrows, a thought occurring to him. "Didn't you say that Lee considered killing Keith for Alchemist blood?"

She looked confused. "Yeah...but Keith left too soon."

"Well, there you go. Even a psychopath recognized your worth enough to want to kill someone else first." He wasn't even joking. Well, maybe a little bit, but the core of his statement was the truth. Sydney herself looked like she was torn between laughing and breaking down into tears.

"That doesn't make me feel better," she told him.

"My earlier point remains. You're a solid person, Sage." Suddenly, he was talking without thinking. "You're easy on the eyes, if a little skinny, and your ability to memorize useless information is going to totally hook in some guy. Put Keith and Lee out of your head because they have nothing to do with your future." He watched her blush, a little bit relieved and mostly amused.

"Skinny?" she repeated. From the tone of her voice, Adrian would've thought she was outraged if her eyes were telling a completely different story and he wondered if anyone had ever told her that before.

"I just tell it like it is," he said. That one almost got a laugh out of her.

"Yes," she said instead. "Yes, you do. Now tell me about a different subject, please. I'm tired of this one."

"Sure thing," Adrian said, having no trouble at all thinking of a million other things that they could talk about. He settled for his newest accomplishment. "Do you smell that?"

She sniffed and Adrian resisted the laugh that threatened to crawl up his throat. "I smell the paint, and...wait...is that pine?"

"Damn straight. Pine-scented cleaner. As in, I _cleaned_." He waved his hands in the general direction of the kitchen with a flourish. "With these hands, these hands that don't do manual labor."

"What did you use it on? The cupboards?"

Adrian was puzzled. "The cupboards are fine," he said. "I cleaned the floor and the counter." Sydney looked even more confused than Adrian was and he found himself annoyed that she didn't look more impressed, so he added, "I even got down on my knees."

"You used pine cleaner on the floor and counters?"

"Yeah, so?"

There was a moment of hesitance on Sydney's part, but she smiled encouragingly—and God, he would've cleaned the whole city if she would smile at him like that again—and she said, "Well, it looks great. I need you to come over and clean my new dorm room now. It's covered in dust."

Adrian thought about the prospect of more cleaning. Okay, so maybe he'd have to do something else to get that smile from Sydney again. "No way, Sage. My own housecleaning's bad enough."

"But is it worth it? If you'd stayed at Clarence's, you had a live-in cook and cleaner."

Adrian looked around the place that was completely and utterly _his_. And it was because of Sydney that he had it, so he felt that she deserved to know exactly how he felt.

_Be honest, Adrian._

"It's definitely worth it," he said. "I've never really, truly had my own place. I kind of did at Court...but it might as well have been an over-glorified dorm room. This? This is great. Even with the housecleaning. Thank you."

"For what?" Sydney asked, squirming slightly under his gaze.

"For this—I know you must have twisted some Alchemist arms. And for everything else. For not giving up on me, even when I was being a major asshole. And, you know, for that saving my life thing." Adrian had the feeling he should've shut the hell up when he finished thanking her for the apartment, but Sydney deserved to hear it all. Obviously, she didn't hear it enough because she looked away.

"I didn't do anything," she said. "That was Eddie—and Jill. They're the ones who saved you."

"Not sure I would've been alive for their rescue if you hadn't set that bitch on fire. How did you do that?"

"It was nothing. Just a, uh, chemical reaction from the Alchemist bag of tricks."

She was lying. He knew it immediately and his suspicion was confirmed when he studied her once again. But he didn't want to push her. She had let him in for the important stuff and this was a mystery he could solve later. "Well, from the look on her face, your aim was right on. And then you got backhanded for it. Anyone who takes a hit for Adrian Ivashkov deserves some credit."

She turned away fully now, and Adrian was more sure than ever that praise wasn't something that came often to Sydney. She walked over to the window.

"Yeah, well, you can rest easy that it was a selfish act. You have no idea what a pain it is to file paperwork for a dead Moroi," she said. Her words put an image in Adrian's mind of an exasperated Sydney, doing paperwork and muttering something about Adrian being annoying as hell even in death and he laughed. It was a real laugh.

"Okay, Sage," he surrendered. "If you say so. You know, you're a lot spunkier than when I first met you."

"Really? All the adjectives in the world at your disposal and you pick 'spunky'?" She relaxed visibly. "Just so you know, you're a little more stable than when I met you."

Adrian almost told her that this was mostly because of her, but he wasn't sure how she would react to it so he took the safe route. "Well, don't tell anyone, but I think getting away from Court was a good thing. This weather sucks, but Palm Springs might be good for me—it and all the wonders it contains. You guys. Art classes. Pine cleaner."

She looked up him and grinned. Adrian almost collapsed. God, she was exquisite. Especially her eyes. Oh, her _eyes_...They glimmered gold at him like magic. Not that shitty Goldenrod, but a pure metallic gold. He couldn't tear his eyes away, even when she looked at him strangely. Adrian couldn't remember the last time he had felt wonder like this.

"My God, Sage. Your eyes. How have I never noticed them?"

"What about them?" she asked uncomfortably.

"The color," he told her, although the words came out so quietly, so softly he was surprised she heard him. "When you stand in the light. They're amazing...like molten gold. I could paint those..." He reached out, wanting to touch her face, to trace his fingers across her cheeks, around her eyes. God, he would've killed to brush his thumb across her lips, but he couldn't make himself do it, much like the way that someone stops themselves from touching a priceless piece of art. What if she broke?

So he settled for saying, "They're beautiful. You're beautiful."

Her eyes went wide, her body tensing in surprise. Something akin to fear flashed across her face and Adrian understood why. He could make jokes all day long about her looks and Sydney could take it. Put a smile on your face and you can say anything. This was different, so different because Adrian meant it this time, trying to put all of his scattered emotions in his voice. The intensity was growing to the point of an explosion and Adrian distantly wondered what the result might be if that happened.

But he never found out because Sydney took a step back, out of the light, away from the dangerous storm that was brewing. Adrian might have said something else if someone hadn't knocked on the door, making them both jump. It hit Adrian fully that he was pushing boundaries that were beyond taboo, even by his standards. He was lucky that whoever it was had arrived in time to stop him from saying something even more stupid. He took this chance to make it seem like nothing had happened.

He smiled slyly and said, "Showtime, huh?"

He didn't watch her reaction, instead choosing to walk across the living room and answer the door dramatically. Abe swept in, only assisting to give the gesture more panache. Adrian noticed that his gray and yellow suit matched the new paint job splendidly.

"Adrian, Sydney...so lovely to see you again," he said, and Adrian didn't like his pause, or the way he said their names together. "I believe one of you already knows this young lady?"

Adrian didn't recognize the girl who appeared behind Abe, but he knew she was a dhampir. For some reason, she reminded him a little bit of Rose. It struck him as strange since she had auburn hair and blue eyes, but then he saw the suspicion in them that all dhampirs seemed to have, the constant readiness to fight.

"Hello, Angeline," Sydney said.

"Angeline, this is Adrian Ivashkov," Abe said.

Adrian wasn't sure just how much he wanted to get to know this girl in her threadbare clothes and feral look, but he extended his hand anyway and let loose the charm that came so naturally. "A pleasure," he said. Cautiously, Angeline took his hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you," she said in a peculiar southern accent. She looked at him closely, and not in the hey-you're-really-hot-lets-get-naked sort of way Adrian was used to. In fact, her gaze was almost scornful. "You look too pretty to be useful."

Adrian heard Sydney gasp, but that was only part of the reason he chuckled. "Truer words were never spoken," he told her.

"Sydney will undoubtedly want to...debrief you on what to expect before you begin school," Abe said in his most diplomatic tone.

"Undoubtedly," Sydney repeated, sounding a little bit ill.

Adrian grinned at the thought of how much trouble this dhampir girl might cause the Alchemist. He stepped away from Angeline and told Sydney, "Let Jailbait do it. Better yet, let Castile. It'll be good for him."

"It's not just the two of you, is it?" Sydney asked, frowning at the empty hallway. "I heard there were others. Sonya's one, right?"

"They'll be right up. They're parking the car. Street parking's terrible around here." Adrian was about to agree when a thought hit him and he turned to Sydney with a hopeful expression on his face, the way a puppy might look at a plate of scraps of meat.

"Hey, do I inherit Keith's car too?"

"Afraid not," Sydney said. "It belonged to his dad. He took it back."

"Ah, yes," Abe said, moving to the living room. "The late, great Mr. Darnell. That boy's really been beset with tragedy, hasn't he? Such a hard life." Before Adrian could say that Keith deserved whatever life threw at his pathetic ass, Abe eyed him and said, "But you, at least, seem to have benefited from his downfall."

Adrian then remembered Abe's insistence that he stay at Clarence's. "Hey," he said defensively. "I earned this, so don't give me any grief about bailing on Clarence. I know you wanted me to stay there for some weird reason but—"

"And you did," Abe said.

The old man had completely lost Adrian. "Huh?"

"You did exactly what I wanted. I'd suspected something odd was going on with Clarence Donahue, that he might be selling his blood. I'd hoped keeping you on hand would uncover the plot. Of course, I had no idea Mr. Darnell was involved. Nor did I expect you and young Sydney to team up to unravel it all."

"I'd hardly go that far," Sydney said. Then she frowned. "Why would you care if Keith and Clarence were selling vampire blood? I mean, we Alchemists have reasons for not wanting that...but why would you feel that way?"

It hit Adrian almost immediately. He probably shouldn't have been as surprised as he was, but he was anyway, and he found himself watching Abe warily as he said, "Maybe because he doesn't want the competition."

"Now, now, no need to bring up unpleasant topics," Abe said casually.

"Unpleasant?" Sydney exploded. "If you're involved in anything that—"

"Enough please," Abe said, holding up a hand to stop Sydney mid-sentence. "Because if that sentence ends with you saying you'll talk to the Alchemists, then by all means, let's get them out here and discuss all sorts of mysteries. Say, for example, like how Mr. Darnell lost his eye."

Adrian was confused at this, and even more confused at the way Sydney froze up.

"Strigoi took it," he said.

"Oh, come now," Abe said, smiling wickedly. "My faith in you was just being restored. Since when do Strigoi do such precision maiming? Very artful maiming, I might add. Not that anyone probably ever noticed. Wasted talent, I tell you."

"What are you saying? It wasn't Strigoi? Are you saying that someone cut his eye out on purpose?" It wasn't like Adrian couldn't understand why, but still... "Are you saying that you—" And at last, Adrian understood why Sydney was so willing to do whatever Abe told her to. He looked back and forth between them, his mind racing as he tried to piece the rest together. He couldn't. "That's it, isn't it? Your devil's bargain. But why?"

Sydney cringed, then swallowed. She said, "Remember when you asked me to trust you?"

"Yes..." Adrian said, not really liking the way this was going.

"I need you to do the same for me." That wasn't a problem. He trusted her more than anyone else. Then it truly sunk in that Sydney Sage had hired Abe to be a hit man. Not so weak after all. He noticed that Sydney couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes.

"'Spunky was kind of an understatement," Adrian decided aloud. When he was sure she was finally looking at him, he nodded slowly. "Okay. I do trust you, Sage. I trust that you have good reasons for the things you do." He meant it. He just hoped that whatever Keith had done to cause Sydney to go to such desperate measures hadn't been because he had laid a single finger on the Alchemist girl. Because if he had, well, then Adrian might just feel the_ tiniest_ bit obligated to hunt down the son of a bitch and rip out his other eye.

"Thank you," Sydney said, bringing Adrian out of his uncharacteristically violent thoughts.

"What are you guys talking about?" Angeline asked irritably.

"Nothing of interest, I assure you," said Abe. "Life lessons, character development, unpaid debts. That sort of thing."

Adrian was surprised to see Sydney's head snap up and her eyes blaze with sudden fury. She took a menacing step forward and said, "Unpaid? I've paid that debt a hundred times over. I don't owe you anything anymore. My loyalty is only to the Alchemists now. Not you. We're finished."

Abe's smile wavered just the slightest bit.

"Well, that remains to be—ah. Here's the rest of our party." He scurried away to answer the door. Adrian couldn't resist taking a step towards Sydney.

"Not bad, Sage," he said. "I think you just scared old man Mazur."

"I don't know about that," Sydney said, her own smile forming, "but it felt kind of good."

"You should backtalk people more often," Adrian said, grinning at her. Fondness swelled up in him and his mood was brighter than it had been all day. He looked towards the door and said, "It's Sonya."

When she walked into the room, she pulled Adrian into a hug. She was walking towards Sydney when Adrian caught sight of his other research partner. He felt himself paling and stilled completely and all he could think was, _I should have know._

The happiness dissipated and his phone conversation with his father returned with the force of a freight train.

Nathaniel Ivashkov had said a storm was coming and now it had arrived—in the form of Dimitri Belikov.

Shit. Shit._ Shit._

* * *

><p>You know, that was harder than I thought it would be. I had to read the last few pages twice to make sure I got everything right...and I might have even missed some stuff. And that was <em>after<em> I wrote while reading the dialogue. I don't think I'll be doing that again. Well, at least I got the experience. Luckily, I've just gotten some inspiration from the song that's playing right now, so hopefully, you guys won't have to wait so long for the next update. In fact, by the time most of you read this, I'll probably either be half-way done or working out the kinks.


	14. Twilight

This is dedicated to my Grandpa Jack who died January 3rd, 2012. He was the biggest asshole in the world, but he told the best stories. We'll all miss you, Grandpa Jackass, but it's your turn to be a dick in the sky. Or, as my dad put it, a dick in a box (cue applause for SNL reference). By the way, thanks for teaching me how to make explosives and roll tobacco. And for giving your pot brownies to my dogs. I'm sure they appreciated that. Also, thanks for letting me play the scratchers you always bought. I love you, always.

After that lovely little piece, it seems a pain to mention that Bloodlines isn't mine, but I suppose I have to anyway, don't I?

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Fourteen: Twilight by Vanessa Carlton<strong>

_And I will never see the sky t__he same way_

_And I will learn to say g__ood-bye to yesterday_

_And I will never cease to fly i__f held down_

_And I will always reach too high_

_Cause I've seen, cause I've seen_

_Twilight_

* * *

><p>"<em>Never<em>?" Julia gasped incredulously. "You swear you've never done it before?"

"Never," Sydney confirmed, still unsure why her friends were so surprised.

"She's a _Twilight_ virgin," observed Kristin. "You should read the books, Sydney. It'll change your life forever."

Sydney sighed into her lunch, regretting mentioning that she hadn't known what the Twilight saga was until it was explained to her a few minutes ago. She debated on whether or not it would be worth it to say that her religion forbade her from anything involving vampires. Then she realized that she wouldn't be able to say that with a straight face and nixed the idea.

Within fifteen minutes, all four books had been pushed into her arms.

"You're a super-brainiac," Julia said. "I'm sure you'll be done with them by Wednesday."

Sydney forced her way through the whole series and returned them early Tuesday morning. Julia and Kristin were eager to know Sydney's opinion. The Alchemist had been at loss for what to say. She couldn't exactly tell them that these vampires were nothing like the ones she had dedicated her to life to ensuring no one knew of. In the end, Sydney couldn't tell them anything except a simple, "I think I'm Team Jacob."

"Well, has your world been realigned?" Kristin asked.

"No," Sydney said. The other two girls exchanged a knowing glance.

"That's because you haven't seen the movies yet," Julia told her firmly. Sydney withheld a groan, but her reluctance must have shown on her face.

"Promise us you'll watch them, Sydney!" Kristin pleaded.

"I—okay."

"I don't believe you," said Julia. Inwardly, Sydney berated herself. She shouldn't have agreed so quickly.

"I'm going to call your other brother and make sure he watches it with you," Kristin said thoughtfully.

"I told you," Sydney said, "Keith is studying abroad in Argentina."

"Not him," Kristin said. "The one who looks like Jill. The hot one. Adrian. I know you go visit him all the time. And I know he comes here sometimes."

"How did you get his number?" Sydney asked, astounded. But not astounded enough to miss that Kristin had called Adrian "hot." It wasn't surprising, not really (especially, an annoying voice in the back of Sydney's head piped up, because it was true), but she still had to struggle to keep up with the current coversation and not let herself be distracted.

"I stole it from your phone," Julia said. "Then I gave it to Kristin."

Once again, Sydney sighed. She was so exasperated that she didn't realize Kristin actually had her phone out and had made the call until the dark haired girl said, "And you'll make sure she watches the whole thing? Great. Thanks so much! Oh, you want to talk to her? Sure."

Sydney took the phone numbly.

"What the hell did you get yourself into, Sage?" Adrian asked curiously.

"I'm still not sure," Sydney told him.

"Well, I don't have anything better to do, so I'll think I'll come over to Amberwood now," he said. "Don't bother coming to pick me up. I can get there on my own. Let's get our vampire on, shall we?" He laughed somewhat maniacally before hanging up without a word.

Sydney stared at the screen of Kristin's phone, the words "Call Ended" blinking back at her. She wondered how exactly Adrian was getting here. She hoped he was taking the bus because the only alternative she could think of was that he stole a car. And that would require more damage control than _everything_ Sydney had had to do for Angeline so far combined.

"This movie better be amazing."

* * *

><p>"That was mind blowing," Adrian said as the credits began to roll. "Seriously. My life has officially been changed forever."<p>

"It was nothing like the book though," Sydney protested. Adrian fixed her with a look.

"So?" he asked. "I don't read, remember?"

That much was true.

Sydney turned to Julia and Kristin to inform them that she wasn't at all impressed, but found that both girls were by the DVD player they had managed to sneak past the ever watchful dorm matron into their room. Although truth be told, Sydney was starting to doubt the true watchfulness of Mrs. Weathers, especially since the three girls had managed to sneak Adrian upstairs. Sydney wasn't sure how much the sneaking had been necessary, but Kristin and Julia had insisted it was better safe than sorry.

"There's another one?" Sydney asked. Kristin turned around a nodded feverishly.

"It's way better," Julia promised. "More like the book. And lots of shirtless werewolves."

"Oh," Sydney said. "Great."

"You said you were more of a Jacob fan!" Kristin reminded her. Adrian chuckled. Despite never having read the books or seen the movies until now, he seemed fairly well acquainted with the subject. Definitely more than Sydney had been not even a week ago.

"Did she?" he said and Sydney resisted the urge to glare at him.

"Can you blame her?" Julia retorted.

"I can," said Kristin. She reached under her bed and pulled out a crumpled ball of black fabric. She shook it out and revealed a Team Edward shirt. She turned to Adrian with a half-pleading half-flirtatious look on her face (which didn't bug Sydney at all, really it didn't). She said, "Please tell me you like vampires more than werewolves. I can't be alone on this one."

A million things that Adrian might say which would land them in serious hot water flashed through Sydney's mind and she clamped down on her emotions before her panic showed on her face.

"I love vampires!" Adrian exclaimed. Then he shook his head at Sydney and shot her a secretive smile. "I always kind of pictured you as someone who was into vampires. You know, posters of them all over your dorm room, as the screensaver on your laptop, the whole shebang."

Well, it wasn't like anyone had ever accused him of being subtle.

"Um, no," said Sydney, a tinge of defensiveness coloring her tone. "In fact, I think Bella is slightly insane."

"Insane?" Kristin and Adrian asked at the same time with equal amounts of indignantion, most likely for two entirely different reasons.

"Yeah. Vampires are, uh, icky," Sydney said awkwardly.

"I think it'd be sexy to have a forbidden vampire-human love affair," Kristin sighed. Sydney snorted.

"More like cliché," she said crossly. "And corny. Plus, what happens when you get caught? Sure it might be lots of fun at the beginning if it weren't so unnatural and unholy, but when your superiors find out about it and send you off to some kind of brainwashing center, then what? Not so cute anymore once the—"

It wasn't common sense that cut Sydney off. It was her tattoo. The moment the magic choked the words back in her throat, Sydney wondered why the hell it hadn't stopped her from talking earlier. Possibly because she hadn't intended to bring up Alchemists or re-education centers. Possibly because she hadn't given a name until just before the tattoo froze her words. It didn't really matter, not now that she had dug herself into this hole.

"And that," Julia said primly, "is why werewolves are so much better than vampires..._and_ Enrique Iglesias."

"Don't bring Enrique into this!" Kristin said sharply. Julia proceeded to completely and utterly "bring Enrique into this" and the two girls began debating heavily. Sydney barely heard them, too stunned at her luck. If she had been with (almost) anyone else, there would have been questions about her seemingly nonsensical rant. But no, Kristin and Julia were so enthralled with arguing about pop culture that they didn't see anything worth asking about.

Unfortunately, Adrian had a different opinion. It figured that on one of the few occasions that Sydney would have appreciated his helpless attention span, he seemed intent on staying on one subject.

"Brainwashing?" he asked, eyebrow raised. Sydney wished he would turn his gaze to, well, anything other than her. He didn't, so she figured she might as well answer the best that she could—which was to say, lie completely.

"Talking about this stuff does funny stuff to peoples' minds," Sydney said. She gestured at Kristin and Julia as if to say, _Notice exhibits A and B._

"Like brainwashing?" Adrian suggested. Sydney growled under her breath. He really wasn't going to let this go? Stupid vampire. Why couldn't he be more of an insensitive, ignorant, whiney little bitch like Edward Cullen? Sydney mentally took the insult to Edward back. It wasn't his fault that he was nothing like a real vampire. In fact, he didn't exist. So why was Sydney apologizing?

She was beginning to confuse herself, so she cast a nervous glance over to Kristin and Julia. They were still arguing so she turned to Adrian and murmured, "Re-education centers."

"Sounds about as impressive as after-school detention," Adrian said, but the comment seemed more obligatory than anything. Sydney couldn't even muster up a smile, so she chose instead to share everything she knew about re-education centers with Adrian, nervously twisting the blankets with her hands to the point of cutting of the circulation in several of her fingers.

"And I spent my whole suspension being afraid that I was going to get woken up in the middle of the night and sent to one," Sydney concluded. A small frown tugged at the corners of her mouth. "In fact, I could still get sent there. I almost did, you know. Back when Keith was still around. He set me up because I wasn't dropping the whole tattoo thing and my dad wanted to pull me out and bring in my sister, Zoe. He would've sent me to a re-education center."

To her absolute horror, her voice shook slightly at the last sentence. It felt good to get it all out, but she couldn't make herself look at Adrian. She was content to stare at Kristin's Team Edward shirt—which was in a pile on the floor—until Adrian gripped her hand and squeezed tightly.

Her eyes flew up to meet his gaze and she was surprised by the compassionate look on his face that was tinted with the tiniest bit of worry. Of all the things she had expected as a reaction, that hadn't been one of them. A joke probably wouldn't have surprised her. Maybe a comment about re-education centers sounding suspiciously like St. Vladimir's.

Julia and Kristin stopped arguing and Sydney pulled her hand out of Adrian's grip in the same moment that he switched his expression to one of amusement.

"It's been decided," Julia announced. "We can only figure it out if we watch _Twilight _again. Then we can watch _New Moon._"

Sydney held back a groan, but Adrian grinned.

"This is going to be awesome," he declared. "Twiathon! Count me in." Julia and Kristin busied themselves swapping discs out of the DVD player and Sydney let out a slow sigh, resting her head on Kristin's pillow.

"If, God forbid, you end up there," Adrian said suddenly as he leaned close to her, his voice very quiet, "I'll get you out. I promise." Sydney met his suddenly fierce green eyes evenly. She believed him entirely. She also believed that she could spend hours making him swear up and down not to, but he would try anyway.

And if there was anyone in the world who could come up with a plan crazy enough to successfully cause a prison break from a re-education center, it was Adrian Ivashkov. The thought made her smile, just a little bit.

"You're smiling," Adrian observed. "Does that mean you don't believe me?"

"I believe you," Sydney said, but didn't offer anything else. She continued to be entertained by the thought of Adrian being the only vampire to break someone out of what was essentially a high-security prision. Or so she imagined. Although...that wasn't exactly true. From what Sydney had gathered, Rose had done exactly that.

Sydney knew that her friend had broken a known criminal out of one of the vampire prisons. Tarasov, she was pretty sure it was called. She toyed with the idea of Adrian, Rose, and Dimitri putting their drama-filled past behind them and working together to rescue her. For a single second, it was both heartwarming and amusing. Then she realized that the situation would require her being sent to a re-education center in the first place and suddenly, nothing in the world was heartwarming or amusing. Just cold. All cold. And far too possible.

She fought back a shiver. No, if Adrian and Rose were going to ever become friends again, it wasn't going to have anything to do with her _or_ re-education centers.

Trying to reassure herself of this, Sydney settled back and resigned herself to watching _Twilight_. Again. It wasn't that bad the second time around. Now that they had all seen the movie once, they all felt free to add their own commentary, which actually turned out to be fairly entertaining.

When Mrs. Weathers finally found Adrian, they were in the middle of _Eclipse._ He used his charms to get them all out of trouble, but had been kicked out nonetheless. Sydney was sent back to her own dorm room.

Once there, she was afraid her dreams would once again be filled with Alchemists taking her to be re-educated. She was terrified of her old nightmares being brought up by her and Adrian's earlier conversation, so terrified that she tried not to fall asleep. Eventually, she gave in to her heavy eyelids.

To her surprise, instead of having nightmares, she dreamed of Adrian running around, covered in glitter and playing what seemed liked Whack-A-Mole, except it was with several Alchemists, Sydney's father included.

And in some ways, Sydney thought darkly when she finally woke up, that was almost worse. Because she knew Adrian's ego would explode if he ever found out that he had made his way into her dreams _without _trying.

* * *

><p>One of my favorite things in the world is hearing Edward Cullen jokes. Like the old, "What do you get when you put Edward Cullen in a woodchipper? Glitter." But I've just now decided that I enjoy the thought of a sparkly Adrian Ivashkov even more.<p> 


	15. I Kissed A Girl

So, (kinda) funny story: My mom's side of the family is Irish. Very Irish. Stereotypically Irish. So, we had a wake for my grandfather which was held in the bar in Reno that he got kicked out of a bunch of times. During my aunts' speeches about him, some guy got so drunk he passed out and fell off his barstool. An ambulence was called. You know, regular wake stuff. Maybe it wasn't funny for the guy we've been calling Twelve-Pack, but I thought it was hilarious. Also, his timing was perfect. Grandpa Jackass would've loved it.

As for the real A/N: I fully intend on making this kind of crazy. I love crazy. But it'll only be kind of crazy, I promise. As opposed to crazy crazy. And while it may end up being OOC, you know you've all wanted to see the tables turned on Adrian and Sydney, hangover-wise.

I don't own Vampire Academy. Boo-hoo.

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Fifteen: I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry<strong>

_You're my experimental game_

_Just human nature_

* * *

><p>"Bleed damn you! <em>Bleed!<em>" Adrian jabbed the center of his sunny-side-up egg menacingly with his fork, an impatient scowl growing on his face. Slowly, the delicious yellow slime coated his toast and he nodded respectfully. He picked up his toast, raising it in a salute, and was about to stuff the whole thing in his mouth when there was a soft knock on the door.

In about a decade, Adrian would remember the morning a completely hungover Sydney showed up at his apartment as a fond memory. However, until the day she agreed to marry him, it was the most wonderful moment of his life. He was doubled over in laughter, blinded by tears of mirth so he didn't see the weak glower Sydney was sending his way.

"You're hungover!" he crowed, knowing he was stating the obvious but hoping that if he said it out loud, it might make some sense. It was almost hypocritical of her, really, to go off on him as much as she did about his drinking, only to show up like this herself. But then again, Adrian was bonded with Jill, already an established addict, likely to go insane, and more likely to continue his drinking upon giving in to the urge.

Sydney was none of those things. At least, not since Adrian had last checked. The Alchemist in question winced, covering her ears with shaking hands. Still grinning widely, Adrian placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and pulled her inside.

"I feel sick," Sydney mumbled. Adrian guided her towards his couch. Sydney stumbled slightly and Adrian noticed she had closed her eyes. For a moment he wondered why, but then realized that the color of his living room walls might bother her eyes. So he abruptly changed direction and moved her in the general direction of the bathroom. Now that he thought about it, it was probably better this way—if she needed to throw up, there wasn't far to go.

"What happened, Sage?" Adrian asked, suddenly very curious.

"What do you _think_ happened?" Sydney retorted, leaning her head back against the coolness of the wall.

"I think you got really drunk," Adrian said. He grinned, imagining poor little lightweight Sydney getting utterly wasted before she even knew what was happening.

"I had...a little bit of...something," Sydney admitted. "I think."

Unable to control himself, Adrian started to laugh again. This time, Sydney didn't seem to have the energy to try and kill him with her laser-gaze. She all but collapsed against the cold wall and sank to the tile floor.

"If you keep laughing at me, I'm going to throw up on you," she told him in an almost neutral tone. "Actually, I think I might throw up anyway."

This stopped Adrian's laughter immediately. He looked down at her, not doubting that she would carry out her words for a single second. Then he remembered that the house was cold and the floor couldn't be comfortable. Recalling (quite distinctly) his first hangover, Adrian took pity of the Alchemist and patted her head gently. He made a slight gesture with his hand in the general direction of the toilet before rushing into his bedroom, grabbing all the pillows and blankets off his bed. He paused, listening to the sound of retching coming from the bathroom. He couldn't stop a wicked smile from gracing his lips. This was really too much. Because who would ever thought that Sydney I-Must-Protect-My-Soul-At-All-Costs Sage would ever endanger her chances of scoring a nice place in heaven for—wait a second.

_Why _would_ she do this?_

It occurred to him that Sydney might have been deflecting his question earlier with one of her own. Adrian had been tricked. By a hungover Sydney. Well, that most certainly wouldn't do. Plotting all the while, Adrian sauntered towards the bathroom and found Sydney rinsing her mouth out in the sink. She looked about ready to drop to the floor again, so Adrian hastily dropped his bundle, making a sloppy little nest for her to collapse into.

Without further ado, she did exactly that.

"Thanks," Sydney said, her eyes grateful. His plan set, Adrian leaned casually against the sink.

"Why'd you come here?" he asked. "Not that I'm not ecstatic to have you here so I can witness you being in my shoes for a change, but why not just call in sick and spend the day in your dorm room?"

Sydney snorted.

"Do I need to remind you what happened when Jill complained about being sick?" she said. "And she wasn't even _really_ hungover, not like me."

Adrian nodded. "So you decided to come to me, the master of all hangovers," he said. Then, a very important question came to mind. "How did you get here?" he asked her.

There was no way she drove herself. He wondered if she'd gotten a ride from Trey. He resisted the urge to make a face at the thought. He didn't like Trey, not at all. There was something sneaky about the guy, something seedy, despite the fact that he seemed perfectly respectable, was a good football player, and even Adrian could admit that the guy wasn't _completely_ hideous.

But still, he was probably a serial killer by night. Or something.

"Kristin drove me," Sydney sighed. "She's never going to let this die."

"Your hungover friend drove you here?"

Sydney gave Adrian an odd look. She said, "Kristin didn't drink anything. She wasn't even with us last night."

And this was just the opening Adrian had been waiting for. He pounced without mercy.

"Us?" he asked slyly. Sydney looked like she might actually start cursing, but she refrained. Not that Adrian could blame her. She was probably going to have to do some serious repenting already. Why add more Hail Marys to her list? Then he paused. Did Alchemists do Hail Marys? He almost asked, losing sight of his goal for a second, but luckily, Sydney spoke before he could.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Us. Julia...convinced me to, um, celebrate somebody's birthday with her and some other people. Kristin didn't like the crowd. Neither did I, for the matter, but beggars can't be choosers and all that."

"So why did you want to go in the first place?"

* * *

><p><em>So why did you want to go in the first place?<em>

At the question, Sydney felt the beginnings of a panic attack start to come on, clear and sharp even through the achy haze of her brain and roiling of her stomach. She immediately started to deflect the question, but one look at Adrian's face told her that he wanted to truth and there would be no resting until he had it.

That was never going to happen. Sydney would find the strength to jump up and run out of this apartment before she told Adrian Ivashkov that she had decided to help steal a bottle of—well, she wasn't quite sure what she stole from Laurel. All she knew was that she hated the taste (not to mention the people she was hanging out with, Julia aside), but she had convinced herself any price was worth paying if it could make her forget—even just for a little while—that she had feelings for the vampire who was looking at her with such breathtaking green eyes. Of course, that whole plan had crashed and burned when Kristin decided that the person to take Sydney to was the person she was trying to forget.

Giving in to her inner cliché teenager might have risked Sydney's immortal soul, but the way she saw it, she was already damned. She had earned her spot in hell, and she couldn't ever be redeemed. Because really, what was worse the falling for a creature of evil?

Admitting it to herself sent a shot of giddiness through her. It also made her feel even more sick than she already did. This was horrible. This was amazing.

She put aside her conflicting emotions, trying to figure out a way to get out of the corner she had been backed into instead. She could worry about her evil, traitorous heart later.

"I got a bad grade," Sydney blurted out. She knew it was feeble. She also knew it wouldn't fool Adrian. She didn't need him to wag his finger and shake his head. She didn't need him to make that clucking sound with his tongue. He did all of these things anyway, and fixed her with his mock-disappointed gaze.

"Don't lie to me, Sage," he said. "You_ can't_ lie to me."

And that, Sydney couldn't help but think, was part of why she lo—_had feelings _for him in the first place. Adrian was probably the only person in the world she couldn't hide from. That was also part of what made this so disastrous. She knew without a doubt that he would eventually find out about...about how she felt. It was inevitable. But there was no way in _hell_ he was finding out like this, with Sydney all but limp on his bathroom floor, her mouth still tasting like vomit. She grimaced.

"I was feeling miserable," she admitted. That wasn't a lie. "So I told Julia I needed a distraction. And then she told me that she knew somebody who knew somebody who was going to throw a party and we could get in if we stole a bottle of something from Laurel. So we did. And then we went to the party. And I don't remember a lot of it, but I remember Kristin practically smuggling me out of school this morning. I must have given her your address. I think she got me out because she still feels like she owes me."

"Laurel," Adrian repeated with a frown, trying to place the name. "She's the bitchy one we don't like, right?"

"Right," Sydney confirmed. She started to nod, but that hurt her head so she stopped. Adrian observed her thoughtfully.

"Don't go anywhere," he told her with a glimmer of playfulness in his eyes that made her scowl. He walked out of the room and Sydney called after him, "That's really funny, Adrian. Really funny."

His laughter echoed around the apartment, making Sydney feel sick again. His laughter was a beautiful sound, but damn it all, she was supposed to be resistant to stuff like that. On the other hand, Adrian Ivashkov was a category all to himself. There was no resisting him, not really. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that he wasn't a vampire. He had a heartbeat, just like she did. He had feelings—and a lot of them. His touch was warm and soft and gentle and wonderful.

She was _so_ screwed.

Adrian appeared in the doorway suddenly, a glass of water in one hand and a couple of small green capsules in the other. He set the glass down in front of Sydney, careful not to spill any, and dropped the pills in the hand she hadn't realized she'd opened. It was nice. He was nice. He was more than nice. Maybe someone should have taught Sydney that some vampires were kind. In fact, most vampires weren't as bad as she had been raised to believe they were. That might have prepared her for Adrian. Probably not. Who in the world could have possibly prepared her for someone who could take her on the wildest emotional ride of her life? And now that Sydney thought about it, no Alchemist could have ever told her that some vampires were kind because no Alchemist—no _good_ Alchemist—would be close enough to a vampire to find out. Certainly not her father.

Sydney closed her eyes and resisted the urge to cross herself at the thought of what her father might do if he learned about this.

"Take them."

The quiet words jolted her thought of her thoughts. Sydney looked at Adrian. She stared at him longer than she usually would. She told herself that there was nothing weird about it. She was hungover. She could stare at him all she liked and no one could tell her otherwise.

"You'll feel better," Adrian said. "Trust me."

She did trust him, of course she did. How could she not? That was where the problem had really started, Sydney mused. With trust.

She grabbed the glass with both her hands. They were trembling slightly and she didn't doubt that she might break this glass if she didn't keep her grip on it firm. Dutifully, Sydney popped the pills in her mouth and washed them down with a small sip of water. She didn't trust her stomach to even keep that down. She knew Adrian was watching her and she hated the delightful tingle that shot up her spine at the thought.

_Vampires suck_.

The irony of her thought struck Sydney hard and she started to giggle. Giggling made her feel sick again and the bathroom tilted a little bit. Quickly, Adrian had his hands on the glass, keeping it steady. Sydney let herself revel in the feel of his fingers touching hers, but only for a moment. That was all she would allow herself. As Lee had been so kind as to point out before he tried to kill her, Sydney frequently denied herself what she wanted. But in this case, she thought she had a very good reason to do so.

"You still haven't answered my question," Adrian said suddenly. "You know, about what spurred you to go against your adorable Alchemist ways. I swear, Sage, if you show up tomorrow in a neon yellow shirt, I'll be forced to do some severe interrogation."

Sydney let out a petulant sound and mumbled something very uncomplimentary that made Adrian laugh again. Slowly, his smile faded into a thoughtful expression that made Sydney squirm uncomfortably.

"You really don't want to tell me about it, do you?" said Adrian.

"Not at all," Sydney confirmed. There was a long pause and for a single second, Sydney thought Adrian might actually let it go.

"When you least suspect it," he said, "I'm going to spring the question on you. And you're going to give me an honest answer. How do I know this? Because I'm Adrian 'Smexy Beast' Ivashkov and I know almost everything there is to know about almost everything."

Sydney kind of wanted to laugh at his almost impressive declaration (and _maybe_ ask about the "Smexy Beast" thing), but her stomach was roiling to much. Suddenly, Adrian's phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket.

"It's a text from Eddie," Adrian said.

"What does it say? Is Jill okay?" She would never forgive herself if she had shirked her duties in favor of something stupid like what she had done and Jill had gotten hurt in the process. Then again, Angeline could probably do more for Jill than Sydney could, sober or not, but that wasn't the point.

"It's a picture of—oh. Wow." Suddenly, Adrian was looking at Sydney in a way that she really didn't like.

"What?" Sydney asked again. She could tell immediately that it had nothing to do with Jill, but there was still dread growing in her stomach because if that picture struck Adrian Ivashkov speechless... Or maybe that dread was just nausea. Gingerly, Adrian handed her his phone. Sydney's eyes grew wide when she took in a grainy picture taken of her kissing Julia. She eyed the subject line and realized that it was a picture that had forwarded again...and again...and again...and again.

"I kissed a girl?" she said, unable to really process it yet. Unbidden, the Alchemist inside her head observed that kissing Julia was probably way better or her soul than kissing Adrian.

"You should slap Castile," Adrian said, suddenly smirking. "He's keeping this chain going by sending it to me, you know. But I love lesbians, I really do, even though I can't get any of them to sleep with me. I'll never understand why. Anyway, out of respect for you, lesbians, and hardcore partiers in general, I will keep this one to myself."

"Never again," Sydney grumbled. Later, she would wonder if Adrian was implying that he thought she might be a lesbian. She doubted it, although she would also think that, once again, that might be the safer route.

"Well, you know what they say," Adrian told her. "Your high school experience isn't complete unless you been shat on by a bird, survived a zombie attack, or gotten super drunk and had a picture of you with your tongue shoved down someone else's throat passed around the whole school via text message. Or all of the above. And not necessarily in that particular order."

"They don't say that," Sydney protested.

"They will now," Adrian replied.

Oh yeah. She was damned for sure.

* * *

><p>While writing this I actually started thinking of the song "Damn" by DOM. But that's irrelevant. So, I'm not gonna lie, I have chapters 16 and 17 already written and waiting to be posted...which means faster updates, I promise. I'll probably update on Thursday, just because I'm a nice person like that.<p> 


	16. Those Nights

So, I would just like to thank **PryingLittlePandora, **not for this chapter, but for one that is coming in the near future. Second time you've been mentioned in a sidenote. Congrazzles! Anyway, I'd just like you to know that I was thinking about your review and because of you, chapter 19 is what it is. Anyhoo, I thought I'd thank you now, just so you'll be super annoyed that you have to wait about a week to actually read what I wrote :) But, you know, as they say, no good deed goes unpunished.

I might as well warn you all that some of my teenage angst might have seeped into this, just a little bit. You know what I'm talking about. The whole "My parents hate me, blah blah blah," (while blasting music from my stereo that my loving parents bought me for my birthday), and "I have no talent, blah blah blah" (while taking out my depressed mood on my writing), and "My life sucks, blah blah blah" (while eating breakfast in a nice warm house whereas some children are starving to death and/or living on the streets). Regular sixteen-year-old bullshit that I amuse myself by thinking about later on. At least my teenage angst is both idiotic _and_ ironic. And at least I have an outlet for it.

**Disclaimer**: Bloodlines isn't mine. Maybe later I'll angst about _that_.

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Sixteen: Those Nights by Skillet<strong>

_Remember when we'd_

_Stay up late and we'd talk all night_

_In a dark room lit by the TV light_

_Through all the hard times in my life_

_Those nights kept me alive_

* * *

><p>It was one of <em>those nights, <em>Sydney thought to herself as she wrapped her fingers around the knob of the door that she knew wouldn't be locked. It never was on nights like this. She still wasn't sure when nights like this one had started.

Nights when Jill would knock on her door and Sydney would let her in, taking in the agony in her eyes and knowing who it really belonged to. Nights when she would make sure Jill saw how she sighed resignedly, like she didn't crave what was about to happen. Nights in which she would sneak out the window of her new dorm, follow the path to Latte, and drive to Adrian's apartment, no longer wondering just how many rules she was breaking—rules set up by both Amberwood and the Alchemists. Nights when the door wouldn't be locked and she would walk right in to find Adrian staring pensively at an unopened bottle and an empty glass.

She would take a moment to look at him, to picture him as a statue in Rome, made all of marble except for his eyes. His eyes, she knew, would be made of polished emeralds. It was the sort of statue that people would stare at and acknowledge as beautiful. And it was—_he_ was. But he was also very broken.

So Sydney would wait for him to turn to her, to nod slightly, permission for her to come over, snatch the bottle away as if he had so much as thought as opening it. She would set it on the counter so she would remember to take it with her when she left, usually leaving it by a random mailbox or garbage can. Then she would take the glass and put it away. She would help him up and they would walk to his bedroom, not talking, not touching. Then he would lay down and she would sit beside him, making sure that not even their fingers touched.

And then they would talk.

Not about important things, or people, or anything that reminded them that there was an unforgiving world outside of the lightless room. They talked about fruit, about the merits of football, about how Adrian finally finished all the Harry Potter books, or about why someone might dye their whole head purple.

And then Adrian would finally fall asleep and Sydney would leave. Sometimes, as she drove home, Sydney would think about the first time she had come over and how different it had been.

* * *

><p>She had been irritated with him, both because he was the reason for Jill's pain and because of Sydney's own dislike of having to get up at three in the morning. The moment Dimitri showed up she had known not to expect the best from Adrian, but it hadn't truly hit her until later that she had still hoped it from him. And so yeah, she was mad about that too. She had fully intended on yelling some sense into him, maybe even trying out a new move Eddie had taught her. She had assumed he would be drowning in alcohol.<p>

She was wrong.

Sydney didn't knock, figuring either the door was open or she could magically find the strength to knock the door out of her way. The whole "I am woman, hear me roar" thing. For all she knew, it might even cheer Adrian up.

But then she walked in and saw him sitting there, looking like he wanted to take the bottle of Jack and fill his glass with it, but he couldn't make himself do it. Like he was just so completely exhausted that he could only sit and stare and think and be sad.

"I bet you thought the worst of me, didn't you?" Adrian said without looking at her. He didn't need to look at her to confirm who it was. Because really, who else but Sydney Sage would storm into his apartment at three in the morning?

"Maybe," she admitted. She never knew that sometimes, it was the thought of her that stopped him on those nights. Not always, but on that night it particular, it had been. He never told her. It was irrelevant.

"I don't blame you," he said instead, because that much was true. Then he wrapped his fingers around the neck of the bottle and pushed it away. With a sigh, he began to drum his fingers on the table. Finally, Adrian looked Sydney dead in the eye and said, "What are you waiting for? It isn't going to grow legs and hop away, you know."

There was no smile, no twinkle in his eyes, and sometimes he could even scrounge up that much. So Sydney had decided that just this once, she could take care of Adrian, regardless of what she had been raised to believe about people taking care of themselves. No one had ever mentioned broken hearts or green eyes when teaching her _that_ particular life lesson. She was leaning across him before she really knew what was happening, taking his untouched vice in one hand and the empty glass in the other and sweeping them off the table, away from him. The first time, she dumped the whiskey in the sink.

"That's some expensive stuff," Adrian said. "Some homeless old man would probably appreciate it more than the drain." Sydney hadn't said anything, hadn't known whether or not he was being sarcastic, but his suggestion was what would later inspire her tradition. She washed the glass, even though she knew it hadn't been used. She was stalling, unsure of what to do after clearing the table.

Sydney's job was to clean up messes, not fix people, especially when they were broken in matters of the heart, something that was far beyond her expertise.

Eventually, she walked back and leaned uncomfortably against the table, not looking at him. She couldn't find it in herself to sit down. Standing next to him was good enough.

"I'm tired, Sage," said Adrian.

"Of what?" Sydney asked. Then he looked at her, almost impressed.

She was confused, but then he said, "I expected you to tell me to go to bed."

"It crossed my mind."

"It sounds like a good idea. Come on." There was a small moment of hesitation, not because she was scared of him, but because she was scared of the temptation, the fluttering in her stomach that made her feel suspicious of the control she had over herself. But Adrian needed her. And besides, it was just for tonight.

So she took his hand and pulled him up. If she had looked at him, she would have seen the amused glimmer on his face that didn't last very long, but was there nonetheless. So really, maybe it was better that she was focused entirely on the task at hand and didn't look up to see his expression.

"Wrong way, Sage," Adrian piped up helpfully.

"It's dark," Sydney said defensively. Once again, she missed the flickering smile. And then it was Adrian leading her, because as small as the apartment was, he didn't doubt for one second Sydney's ability to get them lost in it, stumbling around in the dark all night. And as fun as that would be, Adrian really was tired.

He nudged open the half-open door with his shoulder and let go of Sydney's hand. She was glad. It made this easier. She eyed his bed critically even as he all but stumbled towards it, throwing himself down with an easy familiarity.

"You get that used, too?" she asked. Adrian shot her a scandalized look from where he was sprawled out. Even in the dark she could see the way his lips pursed and his eyes glinted. Or maybe she couldn't see it, she just knew him so well that it was easy to picture it, picture him.

"I have standards," he replied. "I bribed some people to bring it to me from Court. Turns out, the guy just wanted a smoke. Took my last one, but it was worth it, trust me." Sydney told herself that she didn't believe him, not one bit, and that was why she followed him, sitting down crossed-legged beside him.

He was right. About the bed being worth it.

"I saw Labradoodle today," Sydney said.

"Labradoodle," Adrian repeated under his breath. "What an awful name."

"What should they be called then?" asked Sydney.

"Weird looking. Really, really weird looking. Personally, I prefer little dogs anyway. Can't you see me walking around downtown with a little Chihuahua in my man-purse?"

And so the conversation continued this way, nonsensical and ridiculous, with nothing but their fingers brushing until Adrian's eyes closed and didn't open again. Silence followed, but it was a pleasant kind of silence, the kind that is its own sound. Adrian broke it, eyes still closed.

"Sage?" he said.

"Hm?"

"You're going to be gone when I wake up, aren't you?" She was. Of course she was. He knew it too, but Sydney couldn't make herself say it.

Instead, she told him, "I'm sorry." At this he opened his eyes and studied her. In that moment they came to a sort of silent agreement, that this would never be mentioned, that these nights, for all intents and purposes, would not exist. They also agreed without saying so that Sydney would always appear on nights like these, and it would happen over and over again. But not like this. Never exactly like this. Because if so, those nights might start to mean something and that would make things complicated and that was not what those nights would be for.

And that was part of why Adrian meant it when he said, "Me too."

Those nights didn't have an impact. They didn't save anyone or anything, not by a long shot, nor did they change the regular routine. Exactly as planned, they didn't exist in the light of day, almost like shadows of a different life. And Sydney and Adrian would pretend it was a good thing, that it wasn't just feeding the unhealthy addictions they had developed, a sort of need for each other and what they could offer. It was the most unhelpful symbiotic relationship of all time because there is a tipping point for everything, and their tipping point could destroy their lives. There would be no more of those nights.

Several weeks later, Eddie was the one who took it upon himself to confront Sydney about it. Well, kind of.

"Why do you go to see him?" he asked her as he ate her breakfast.

"Who?"

"Adrian. I know you do, so don't bother lying. Jill told me about it."

"If you know about it, then why are you asking?" Frowning, Eddie leaned back in his chair.

"You know," he said somewhat wryly, "I'm not really sure. I guess...to make sure you know what you're doing?"

"No one every knows what their doing," retorted Sydney.

"You're starting to sound like him now."

"Do you think I should stop?" Sydney almost hadn't asked Eddie what he thought. Against all odds, he really had become somewhat of a brother to her, and she found that taking his opinion into account had become very important.

Eddie said, "I think you should take care of yourself, Sydney. And him too, if you can. So if taking care of him takes care of you..."

"Like taking care of Jill takes care of you," Sydney concluded. Eddie looked at the doorway Jill had recently walked out of the go to sewing club with Micah and Angeline. Then he nodded. And that was that.

* * *

><p>And now it was one of <em>those nights<em> again.

Sydney twisted the knob and opened the door.

* * *

><p>Didn't I warn you? Teenage angst galore. Jeez. I'll make sure to write something much happier next time. It's funny, this almost reminds me of chapter 12. Maybe it's the style, or the pattern, or maybe because, just like chapter 12, the image that popped in my head was them sitting in Adrian's bed. I don't know. Whatever.<p> 


	17. Hospital Beds

I was watching _Merlin_ while I wrote this, which is a weird combination. But God, I do love me some smexy knights. Not that that's important or anything.

Disclaimer: Bloodlines isn't mine. I do have two little dogs who are currently laying across my lap, though. Sometimes I think I'd rather own Bloodlines. It would probably be less expensive. And I bet Bloodlines smells better. And doesn't leave giant turds in the backyard. But whatever.

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Seventeen: Hospital Beds by Cold War Kids<strong>

_Tell me the story_

_Of how you ended up here_

_I've heard it all in the hospital_

* * *

><p>Adrian wasn't annoyed. He wasn't mad either, nor was he livid. No, Adrian had far surpassed every single level of angry possible. If he had been able to think clearly, he might have even been impressed with himself at this new accomplishment. But he <em>couldn't<em> think clearly since he had just learned that Sydney was in the nurse's office, and had been for two hours, but no one had deemed it fit to tell him about it until just now.

"It figures," he muttered to himself, fingers twitching erratically, "that I miss one game—_one game—_and that's the game she sprains her goddamn ankle."

The nurse shot him a nasty look which Adrian reciprocated in full. He had developed a firm distaste for the plump woman the moment she told him that he had to wait. That was ten minutes ago and he was still sitting in the crappy plastic chair, fury bubbling as he tapped his foot impatiently and grumbled irritably to no one in particular. He wasn't quite sure _why_ he was so infuriated, or _who_ he was infuriated _with_. He was a giant mess of jumbled emotions and all he wanted was to see Sydney and then he could...what?

And then Adrian was just puzzled with himself.

"For the love of God!" the nurse shouted suddenly, making Adrian jump. She marched over to the door Adrian had been staring at longingly and threw it open. "I'll let you in to see your sister if that's what it takes to get you to stop making all that noise!"

Adrian nearly smiled triumphantly, but instead chose to all but charge through the door, barely hearing the warning he was given that Sydney was about to get another dose of pain killers. The nurse slammed the door shut behind him, waking up Sydney with a start. Her eyes went wide when she saw Adrian and she made to move, but her ankle hindered her and she winced.

"Adrian," she said.

"Sage," he replied, unable to keep the tiniest bit of snarkiness out of his voice. "I see you've—"

"Don't finish that sentence" warned Sydney. She knew him too well.

Obliging, Adrian surveyed the room. Everything was stark white except for a small TV across the room on which some kind of doctor soap opera was playing. This had to be the fanciest nurse's office he'd ever seen. But like any real hospital room, the room was empty. Sterile. Boring. He shuddered at the thought of staying here for longer than he had spent waiting to see the girl in front of him. He turned to look at her again, green eyes scrutinizing. Cautiously, he walked over to the bed and sat down beside her.

Sydney pushed herself up gingerly with her hands and Adrian frowned.

"You're an awful patient, Sage," he told her. "You're supposed to be bossing everyone else around. Making them do everything for you. But don't let it be said that Adrian Ivashkov doesn't know how to be a proper nurse." To prove his point, he leaned over her, changing the position of her pillows and fluffing them. He caught her scent and was forcibly sent back to a memory that seemed so long ago, a memory of a girl who had been covered in her own sweat, her dark hair messy. He remembered the way she had dealt with his half-assed advances and he wanted to smile, but then he remembered the way she had broken his heart and that every day he was forced to look at the man she had broken his heart for. He felt sick.

"You should move," Sydney said. "I probably smell gross."

Adrian tilted his head and looked down at her, morbidly curious. Did she know? How could she know? But there was sincerity in her eyes, as well as a flustered look on her face. She didn't know. He smiled wryly down at her.

"You and your silly little human nose," he replied and almost laughed at the bewildered expression that crossed her face. Nevertheless, he pulled back, watching with satisfaction as Sydney adjusted against the pillows and let out a small contented sound that he doubted anyone else could have heard. It was nice to know he could take care of her. That he could take care of someone. It made the sick feeling more bearable.

"Thanks for coming to see me," Sydney said. "I got kind of...lonely." There was something else in her expression, something odd, but Adrian didn't press it.

"How _did _you sprain your ankle?" he asked her. Annoyance flashed across Sydney's face.

"Someone pushed over the cart of balls as I was walking by and I slipped on them," she told him. "I think it was someone from the other team but I can't prove it so..."

At long last, Adrian had someone to direct his rage at, although he still wasn't quite sure why he was so upset by the whole thing in the first place. It felt similar to his protectiveness over Jailbait, but not exactly that. Besides, he hadn't known Sydney for about a year and a half, hadn't brought her back from the dead, wasn't bonded to her with powerful, unstable magic. But still...still. He decided not to think about it. There were more important things to ponder on anyway.

"So how long are you supposed to stay here?" Adrian wondered aloud. Sydney made a face.

"A week," she told him. "At least. Mostly for observation. And to annoy me, I think. Then I get to go back to my dorm. I think my tattoo will make me heal faster, but I don't know. I've never sprained anything before."

"You know, I could always—"

"No! Adrian, we've been through this!"

"At which time you had almost been killed," Adrian reminded her, his impatience clear. "You were pretty hysterical."

"Adrian!"

"You know I both hate it and find it disturbingly sexy when you say my name like that." Sydney fixed him with a frown even as she turned red—which was sort of the desired effect.

"Well, I hate magic," she said. Adrian smiled at her.

"You don't find it sexy at all?" he asked playfully. In response, Sydney punched him in the arm weakly.

"Fine," Adrian said after a pause. "But I can't believe you would rather be in a hospital bed for a week than let me heal you. Obviously, I don't give your idiotically stubborn superstitious nature enough credit."

"Obviously," Sydney agreed. "If you want to be a nurse, those hands are going to have to do some manual labor."

"Or," Adrian suggested hastily, "I could just keep you company while you watch those doctor soaps." He watched, pleased with himself, as Sydney smiled slightly. Suddenly, the door opened and the nurse came in.

"Pain killer time," she said. She pointed at Adrian. "You, go away." Sydney frowned, but didn't say anything. Adrian decided that, as her unofficial nurse, it was his duty to keep her happy and clearly, she would be happy if he stayed. Maybe he was flattering himself, just a little bit, but that had never stopped him before.

"I don't see why I can't stay," Adrian protested. And that was all. He looked at the nurse innocently, maybe just a little bit pleadingly, and shot her his biggest smile that didn't reveal his fangs. He would, if terror would get him what he wanted, but Sydney was supposed to be relaxing, not cleaning up his messes. Even if said messes were made for her.

He watched as the nurse faltered.

_Hook, line, sinker._

"An hour," she said. "Not a second longer."

Adrian gave her a salute to match his solemn expression. "Yes, ma'am," he said firmly. Her hesitant look vanished, replaced by an annoyed one. She ignored him entirely as she fiddled with the IV that Adrian doubted Sydney needed. But she wouldn't ever complain. He knew that. Even if it meant dealing with a needle sticking in her arm. None of which would be necessary if she let him heal her, but whatever.

"So, explain this soap opera to me," Sydney said after the nurse left.

Adrian followed her gaze to the TV and realized something he hadn't noticed before: "It's in Spanish."

"Why do you think I asked you to translate?"

"Don't you speak, like, a billion languages, Spanish included?"

Sydney smiled. "Yes, but I need entertainment somehow. And there's nothing more entertaining than watching you struggle. Come on now, Nurse Ivashkov, do your job."

Adrian studied the screen. "I think that the lady in the cheetah-print bodysuit is accusing the lady in the nun outfit of...sleeping with her husband? Okay, this is definitely a doctor soap."

"Now you're just guessing," Sydney said, eyes narrowing in disapproval. Adrian shot her his most dazzling smile.

"But it'll be more interesting that way," he told her. Sydney's eyes went from him to the TV. She shrugged and her eyes closed.

"You were close enough anyway," she said. "Keep going."

"O-kay." Slowly, Adrian stretched himself out beside her, resting his head just above hers on the same pillow. They were very nice pillows, he noted somewhat randomly. It was easier to grip onto nonsensical things like that than how comforting it was to lay with Sydney like this.

He opened his mouth to continue on with his bullshit translation, but then he heard the rhythm of Sydney's even breathing. It had seemed weird that she was so at peace with a vampire lying in the same hospital bed as she was—and even _if _the whole vampire thing wasn't an issue, Adrian still didn't think that even Sydney would be impervious to a guy as undeniably hot as he was pressed up against her in such a confined space—until he realized that she was sound asleep.

Not that Adrian could really blame her. Well, he kind of could because as far as he could remember, a girl had never fallen asleep while they were in bed together without doing anything at all—not that he would do anything with Sydney because that was weird and why was he even thinking like this?—but at the same time, she had just been given pain meds...and the hospital beds were extremely comfortable. So very comfortable, that Adrian found himself falling asleep too.

The nurse was not pleased at all.

* * *

><p>Ta-da! I've actually done the whole watching-a-soap-opera-in-Spanish-and-trying-to-figure-out-the-plot-line thing with my dad. He's bilingual and grew up in Leon. I did neither, but I've found that Mexican soap operas are easy enough to figure out once you've watched enough of them. But my dad usually preferred whatever crazy stuff I managed to come up with to the actual show anyway.<p> 


	18. Goodnight Moon

Don't judge me. This monstrosity came from a bad combination of this song on repeat too many times, severe PMS, watching old video tapes of me and my dad when I was little, inhaling nail polish fumes, and visiting my three-year-old cousin. I considered scrapping it once I was back to my regular state of mind, but I'm hoping that if I tell my dad I wrote a chapter and dedicated it to him, he'll forgive me for throwing my shoe at him when he laughed at my cramps instead of bringing me Advil.

**Disclaimer**: Good news! I actually do own something from this chapter! Not Vampire Academy or Bloodlines, but I do own the OC, whose initials are: _**A.R.I.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Eighteen: Goodnight Moon by Go Radio<strong>

_So goodnight moon and goodnight you_

_When you're all that I think about_

_All that I dream about_

* * *

><p>"Tell me again, how old is she?"<p>

"Two and a half," Sydney said. Rose let out an annoyed sound.

"I can't believe it's taken me this long to get the time off of work to meet her!" she exclaimed. "Last I heard, she couldn't even talk."

"The good old days," Sydney said. She was only half joking, but Rose laughed before blowing another stream of bubbles. With a happy squeal, the two-year-old in question wobbled awkwardly after them, trying to seize the bubbles in her small pudgy hands. Rose shook her head.

"She looks just like you," she said.

"Almost," Sydney said with a pleased smile. It was true. They had the same face and the same color hair, but the texture of the blonde waves was different. And the eyes...well, they were unmistakable_._

"But she doesn't act like you," Rose continued. "I mean, I kind of pictured her color-coding her toys and alphabetizing her books or something. But personality-wise...well, she's actually a lot like Adrian." Sydney knew Rose was watching her cautiously, waiting to see if Sydney was offended by the statement. She wasn't. She was used to it, so she gave the standard response.

"All two-year-olds are like Adrian," she said and Rose laughed. Grudgingly, Sydney added, "But I guess Anastasia is more like him than most."

The little girl perked up at the sound of her name and Sydney smiled, waving her fingers. Anastasia waved back, smiling brilliantly. In the light of the setting sun that was streaming through the kitchen window, the small golden flecks in her eyes stood out clearly. Then Sydney lost her attention and Anastasia was back to chasing after bubbles. Suddenly, one landed on her cheek on popped. She blinked, puzzled, but as even more bubbles passed her by, the last one was forgotten.

"Daddy," Anastasia said, stopping again. She looked around, silky hair falling out of her ponytail and around her face as she did so.

"She's very Daddy-oriented," Sydney told Rose. "Good thing, too. You'll see why when he gets back." Anastasia shook her head even harder.

"Daddy!" she insisted. This time, she stomped her foot, clearly annoyed. She tilted her head to the side, eyes wide. It took another couple moments before Sydney could hear the car door slam, too.

"Plug your ears," she advised Rose, who frowned.

"Why?" she asked, just as the doorknob turned and the front door opened. The second Adrian stepped through into the hall and into view, there was a delighted shriek like siren and Rose clapped her hands to her ears.

"_DAAADDYYYYYYYYY!_"

Sydney remembered the first time Eddie and Jill had been introduced to Anastasia's impressive vocal chords. Eddie had laughed and said, "That girl could scare off a Strigoi just by screaming at it." Sydney had informed him somewhat curtly, "You wouldn't think that was so funny if you lived with her."

But however much Anastasia's shrieking bothered Sydney and Rose and all the other visitors, Adrian seemed immune. Or maybe the little girl had already blasted his eardrums. The blond dhampir toddler rushed towards the man who had just entered the house and threw her little body against his legs. He looked down in the same moment that she looked up. Nearly identical emerald eyes met and in a graceful, practiced movement, Anastasia was in the air, being swung around in wild circles. Her laughter filled the house and she wiggled dangerously. In response, her father pulled her close to his chest.

"Precious!" Adrian cried, as if the best thing in the world had just happened to him. Which, in some ways, it had. Sydney watched the two for a moment, amused as she tried to imagine what Adrian might do if his daughter wasn't as enraptured by him as he was with her. She didn't think there had ever been a time that she and her father had been like this, so to witness it from a family of her own brought her almost as much joy as it seemed to bring the two most important people in her life.

"Wow," Rose said, eyes wide. That was when Sydney remembered that Rose hadn't ever seen this before. Adrian heard her and looked away from Anastasia for a second. Suddenly, there was a strange, almost pleased smile on his face when he saw Rose, and Sydney knew why.

"Hey, Rose," he said. "Good to see you again. Tell me, have you and Stasia been properly introduced?"

"No," Anastasia said before Rose could say that yes, they had in fact been acquainted. Rose frowned and Adrian set down his squirming daughter. Sydney rolled her eyes. This was the moment Adrian had been waiting for, so she figured she might as well and give him his due. He had, after all, been prepping his daughter for this moment all her short life.

Anastasia marched over to Rose, stuck out her tiny hand and announced, "Anastasia Rosemarie Ivashkov." She couldn't properly pronounce it (not that she could be blamed considering that it was a mouthful for anyone), but the meaning came clear and Sydney saw Rose's face positively melt with emotion. Adrian looked pleased.

"Daddy?" Anastasia said, turning to him, seeming uncertain at the silence her proclamation was met with.

"Good job, Stasia," Adrian assured her and a silly smile split the little dhampir's face. She practically danced her way back into his father's arms.

"You never told me..." Rose trailed off.

"We wanted to see your face," Adrian said as he settled Anastasia into a comfortable position in his arms. Rose's eyes narrowed, kind of in the way they did just before she punched someone in the nose.

"_You_ wanted to see her face," Sydney corrected hastily. "I had no part in this. Well, okay so, we came to the mutual decision to name her after you, Rose. Except, there's only one Rose Hathaway, so we settled for it being her middle name. And she's named after a Russian grand duchess because you and I met in Russia."

Rose jerked up straight and frowned at Adrian. "You said it was because your aunt Tatiana was named after a Romanov and you wanted your daughter to be named after a Romanov, too. In her memory and or whatever. That and Anastasia Ivashkov sounds, and I quote, 'Almost as badass as Jet Steel.'"

"I can't believe you actually bought that, Mrs. Belikov," Adrian scoffed. "By the way, do you have your Russian accent down to perfection yet?"

"That depends Mr. Mom," Rose retorted. "Have you got _Goodnight Moon_ memorized?"

Without warning, a squeal came from Anastasia. She clapped her hands together hopefully.

"Yes!" she squealed. "Yes!"

"Now you've done it," Sydney said, rolling her eyes again, but she was smiling again. "That's her favorite book."

"You never should have sent it as a birthday present," Adrian said dramatically. "Now I'm caged." Sydney snorted.

"Caged," she repeated. "Yeah right. That's exactly why you practically had an apoplexy when I read it to her because you got home late last week."

Adrian pulled a face and said, "I read it better than you do."

"Daddy?" Anastasia asked, tugging on his ear anxiously. "Daddy?"

"After dinner," Adrian told her. Anastasia made a face almost identical to the one he just made and Rose and Sydney shared an amused glance. Adrian noticed the unhappy look too, and said, "Let's make dinner, Stasia."

Distracted so easily as all young children (and Adrian) are, Anastasia perked up at the idea and wriggled violently, her silent demand to be put down. She took off for the refrigerator and Adrian followed quickly. They made more noise than should be possible for a father and his daughter making Kraft macaroni and cheese, but it gave Rose and Sydney time to talk some more.

"Anastasia Rosemarie Ivashkov," Rose repeated. "That's almost cruel. Do you know how long it's going to be before she can even say that, much less spell it?"

"I'm not worried," Sydney said wryly. "She can just throw a book at her teacher after calling them a fascist bastard. I heard it worked out pretty well when you did it."

"That it did," Rose agreed and settled for watching the little girl banging pots and pans.

* * *

><p>"The way I see it," Rose said, "You've got it made. Not only do you have a husband who cooks for you, but you also have a daughter who does the same thing."<p>

"They're practically my slaves," said Sydney with a twinkle in her eyes. "Lucky me. Gourmet meals every nights. All I have to do is everything else."

Rose chuckled and said, "Actually, I think Stasia is the lucky one here. She's one loved girl, what with you and Adrian as her parents."

"She also has you and Dimitri and Eddie and Jill and Lissa and Christian and Janine—" Sydney continued but Rose cut her off.

"Hold up," she said. "My _mom_ saw your little girl before I did?" Sydney nodded.

"She and Abe dropped by a couple months ago," she confirmed. Rose started laughing.

She said, "If you ever doubt Adrian's parenting skills, just think about how Anastasia could have some Turkish mobster with a nickname like _Zmey _as a dad instead. Better to have her inherit Adrian's wacky personality mixed with your total straitlaced one. At least you both have positive traits she can pull from. She won't be like mel—a little Zmeyette.

Sydney laughed so hard she choked on her own spit.

"You like that?" Rose asked. "I came up with that back when I first found out Abe was my dad."

"That must have been horrifying," Sydney observed.

"It was," Rose said, nodding sagely.

"_GOODNIGHT MOON TIME!_"

"I guess the bath is over," Sydney observed. Her lips twitched into a wry smile, still unable to wrap her head around how Adrian could make such complicated tasks—like giving a two-year-old a bath—seem so easy. From what she had witnessed, it probably had more to do with the fact that Adrian could use all of Anastasia's favorite bath toys and come up with elaborate stories. Wild imagination wasn't one of Sydney's strengths, so she was happy to leave story-time to the paternal side of the unit.

"They're really good together," Rose said softly. Sydney nodded, smiling.

"He's a good dad," she said. "A really, really good dad."

"I'm almost surprised...but at the same time, it makes perfect sense," said Rose.

"You should've seen Eddie's face when he first saw them together," Sydney said, shaking her head. "And then Jill...Jill asked Eddie if he wanted to see if he could be as good a dad. It was hilarious. And now it's time to get this show on the road."

"What show?" Rose asked.

"You want to watch Adrian read Anastasia _Goodnight Moon_, don't you?" Rose's dark eyes lit up with an amused glint and they both moved to their feet, wandering down the hall towards Anastasia's room. Sydney saw Rose's face melt for the second time that day at the sight the room beheld.

Adrian was lying flat on his back on the thick, pink, fuzzy rug right underneath the brightest lamp in the room. He had Anastasia curled up on his chest, with one of his arms resting across her back, holding her to him as he read to her. The unicorn nightlight was already turned on, adding a sparkly pink sheen both Adrian and Anastasia's pale skin.

"They're already in the middle of the book," Sydney whispered. Like everyone in the household, she knew the book by heart by now.

"'Goodnight kittens and goodnight mittens,'" Adrian read aloud and Anastasia tilted her head up to meet his eyes.

"Kittens!"

"Yeah, we like kittens, don't we?"

"Mittens!"

"And we like mittens."

"No!" Adrian laughed and Anastasia wobbled slightly.

"No?" he asked. "No? Then why say 'mittens'?"

"Kittens. Mittens. We have kitten mittens."

"What the hell is she saying?" Rose hissed, looking over at Sydney who grinned at her.

"Adrian will know," she replied. "Just give him a second."

"You want a kitten named Mittens?" Adrian tried.

"_Yes!" _Anastasia was sitting up on Adrian's chest now, hands clapping feverishly. "Kitten! Mittens! _Now!"_

"Don't let anyone ever say that you don't know what you want," Adrian muttered and Anastasia giggled happily. "Well, we can ask Mommy about the whole kitten-named-Mittens thing later. We've still got a couple lines to pulled the little dhampir back down gently and continued reading."

"Are you going to be adding a cat to your family household?" Rose asked, eyebrows raised. Sydney sighed, and they pulled away from the open doorway, crouching together in the hall.

"Probably," she said, amusement clear in her voice. "It's hard enough turning down one pair of those eyes, but _two? _Impossible. So really, it depends on whether or not Adrian wants a kitten named Mittens."

Suddenly, both women seemed to realize that Anastasia's room was completely silent. Two heads peeked back in and caught sight of Adrian and Anastasia, sound asleep.

"That's got to be uncomfortable," said Sydney. "Adrian's neck is going to be killing him when he wakes up."

But she might as well have not said anything. Rose was too transfixed on the precious sight in front of them.

"Shut the front door," breathed Rose, astounded. Sydney's lips twitched upwards at Rose's shock. She jerked her head in the direction of the kitchen and her dhampir friend nodded. She rose to her feet and walked back with a practiced, guardian silence. Sydney, however, was a mother of a two-year-old, and had learned on her own how to walk around a room without making a sound.

She did so now, picking up the abandoned copy of _Goodnight Moon_ and set it down gently on Anastasia's bookshelf.

Before easing the door shut, she caught one last glimpse at what she knew was one of the most beautiful things she would ever see.

_Goodnight Adrian. Goodnight Stasia. And...okay, _fine_. Goodnight Moon. God, that last bit was embarrassing. _

The door closed without waking a single soul.

* * *

><p>Once again, ladies and gents, this puddle of mush was <em><strong>not my fault! <strong>_I also don't own that line from _Goodnight Moon_ that I used closer to the end. That was always my favorite line when my dad read that book to me. If you guys couldn't already tell, I'm extremely attached to my dad, so naturally, in such a sappy state of mind, our dynamics would seep into this. For the record, I have no idea if Adrian's aunt in the VA series was named after Grand Duchess Tatiana, older sister of Anastasia Romanov. But for the purposes of this chapter, she was.


	19. My Medicine

For those of you who wanted to know in more detail what happened the night before Sydney ends up at Adrian's doorstep hungover...you should thank **PryingLittlePandora**. This wasn't going to be as long as it was, but it kind of...evolved. Anyhoo, there isn't much Sydrian fluffy stuff (or even really angsty stuff) in it, but I'll make up for it in the Valentines Day themed chapter, I promise. I'll make up for it so much that we will all drown in fluffiness :) Yay for drowning in fluffiness! But that's to come later (by which I mean, like, a few days), so for now, I present to you the latest installment of The Shuffle.

**Disclaimer: **So not mine. A million ways not mine. But how romantic would that be if someone gave it to me as a valentine?

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Nineteen: My Medicine by The Pretty Reckless<strong>

_Somebody mixed my medicine_

_I don't know what I'm on_

_Somebody mixed my medicine_

_But baby it's all gone_

* * *

><p>It took about five minutes for Sydney to realize that someone was knocking on her door. Immediately, she threw it open. There was no way she could spend another second on the ground, moping. She never considered herself a moper—but then, she'd never considered herself someone who might develop feelings for a vampire, so Sydney resolved to not be surprised by any other sides of her that showed themselves.<p>

"Sydney!" Julia said, a desperate gleam in her eyes. "I need your help."

Sydney forgot all about her current dilemma, worry for her friend replacing her depression over her feelings. Okay, well, maybe not _replacing_, but she was finally able to put it aside. Unfortunately, she couldn't wipe whatever look she had on her face off before Julia caught sight of it. Then she seemed to go through almost exactly what Sydney had. The only difference was that instead of concern, she looked kind of elated.

_Oh, no_.

"You have guy trouble," said Julia. "I've been waiting for this for ages!"

"I don't have guy trouble!" Sydney protested. More like a moral crisis. Besides, Adrian wasn't a guy. He was a vampire. An evil, scary, sweet, hurting, gorgeous guy. No, _vampire_! There was a pause and then Sydney said miserably, "I have guy trouble."

"Tell me all about it," ordered Julia, pushing her friend backwards until they were both sitting on Sydney's bed.

"But don't you have your own problem?" Sydney asked. "You came here for my help, remember?" She wanted to get advice from Julia, but she wasn't sure exactly how she was going to get to it without bringing up the whole vampire thing. And even if she could, Sydney by nature had trouble sharing her problems with people. Not that she'd ever had a problem like this before.

Julia assured her, "Guy trouble from _you _takes precedence over what I came here for. And who knows, we may even help each other out. Now spill."

"Okay," said Sydney. And then she frowned. How did she start? Julia looked amused.

"You've never done this before, have you?" she asked. Sydney shook her head. Julia's smile widened and she said, "So, there's this guy. And...? What's the problem?"

"No, Julia," Sydney said, shaking her head vehemently. "What _isn't_ the problem? Seriously. I mean, to start with, he's not over his last girlfriend. And even if he was, nothing can ever, ever happen. Ever. Oh, and don't even get me _started_ on the religious conflicts that come along with this. And that's just the beginning of a long list of problems. I bet for every problem that I might give you, there are another twenty that I can't think of."

"So, I'm just going to go out on a limb here and guess that your parents don't like him," Julia said. Sydney blinked.

"That," she said, "is the biggest understatement I've ever heard."

"Does he know you like him?"

"With my luck? Probably." The thought just made her even more depressed. This whole "girl talk" wasn't helping. At all.

Julia nodded. "So he's the kind of guy who might know but wouldn't say anything. Tact is nice."

The words got Sydney wondering. _Would_ Adrian keep his mouth shut? Maybe. Jill wouldn't though, and if Adrian knew, so would Jill. The knowledge sent a burst of relief through Sydney. She sighed happily. "He doesn't know. His sister would've confronted me about it."

"He would've told his sister?"

"They share everything with each other," Sydney said. That was close enough to the truth. "Hey, you haven't asked who he is yet."

"And I won't," Julia said. "It doesn't really matter. So, can I help?"

No, she couldn't, at least not any more than she had. She wasn't even part of the world that was making this an even bigger issue than it already was. Talking to Julia about it, however vague conversation had been, was nice, but Julia couldn't do anything.

Or could she? A conversation Sydney had had when visiting Adrian earlier came back to her.

He had been drinking heavily and Sydney had clung to the annoyance that rose up in her the way a starving dog clings to its last bone.

"What the hell is that?" she had asked, gesturing to his vice. Adrian raised his eyebrows at her use of the word "hell" which she thought was highly unfair.

"That, you heathen, is my medicine," he said. "My distraction from my misery."

_My medicine._

"You can distract me from my misery," Sydney said. "With, you know, _stuff_." She knew this was a bad idea. A very, very bad idea. It was also a hypocritical one. Most importantly, it just might be damning to her immortal soul, but hypocritical, bad, and damning seemed to be a reoccurring pattern with her now. And in all the corny high school shows Adrian seemed so entertained by, drunken high school teenagers seemed to enjoy getting thoroughly intoxicated.

"I was right," Julia said, looking pleased as punch. "We can help each other. There's this party that I want to go to, but Kristin bailed on me and I can't go alone."

"So, let's go," Sydney said.

"There's kind of a catch," Julia admitted. "We need a ticket to get in."

"A...ticket?" Sydney repeated disbelievingly.

"More specifically, a bottle of booze," said Julia. "It's a birthday party. Get it? The booze is like the present."

"And where are we supposed to get a bottle of booze?" Sydney scoffed. The moment the question left her lips, the unpleasant answer appeared. Julia's evil smile was even more of a giveaway.

"Laurel, of course," she said. Sydney took a deep breath and thought about what she was about to do. After a quick deliberation, she decided that her original opinion remained true—anything was better than thinking about Adrian.

Anything.

* * *

><p>"So, the plan is simple," Julia said. "I distract her and you go and grab the bottle out of her purse."<p>

"Let's get this over with," muttered Sydney. Julia fixed her with a suspicious look.

"You better not take that and run to drown your problems," she warned. At the thought of her problems, Sydney thought of Adrian and at the thought of Adrian, another one of his bits of alcohol-related wisdom hit her.

"Drinking alone is sad and pathetic," Sydney said, unable to keep a tiny smile off her face. Julia simply nodded as if this made perfect sense to her. Then she waltzed over to Laurel and said something that Sydney couldn't hear from so far away. Whatever it was, it was obviously offensive enough to make Laurel set down her purse and take threatening step forward. Julia threw her head back and laughed, shaking her fair hair.

For a moment, Sydney was reminded of two feral animals, each trying to seem more impressive. Then she remembered that she was supposed to be snatching her ticket to forgetfulness and scurried forward.

"You're a bitch," Laurel growled. "You know that?"

"And you're unattractive," Julia said. "But I'm not going to judge. Much." Her smile screamed "challenge", but her body language told a different story. Luckily, no one seemed to notice, even as they all kept their eyes on the girls.

How bad must people be, Sydney wondered, that they reacted like sharks on the scent of blood at the prospect of a fight?

It didn't matter though, since she shoved her hand in Laurel's abandoned purse and her hand immediately caught hold of the neck of a cool bottle. She pulled it out and glanced at the label for only a second—it read "Kahlua" in large yellow lettering—before shoving it into her own purse. She sent Julia a meaningful look to indicate their mission was accomplished.

"Well, this has been fun," Julia said brightly, "but I've got an essay to write."

And then she walked away.

"Well that's just fine," Laurel called to her retreating back, "since I've got a little birthday celebration to be going to."

Julia was close enough for only Sydney to hear when she said, "Do you really?"

"She was going to bring a bottle of Kahlua," Sydney said, figuring Julia would understand if this was significant or not. Julia's smug little smile broke into a huge grin.

"Score," was all she said.

Sydney returned her friend's smile. She had gone about five minutes without thinking about Adrian Ivashkov. Her night was picking up already.

* * *

><p>Sydney didn't know whose birthday she was celebrating. Just that it was some guy who had very rich parents—so rich, in fact, that they paid the school to leave their son alone which was why he managed to throw the loudest parties in his oversized dorm room without attracting attention from teachers. Or so Sydney had been informed. The exception, apparently, was if a teacher received an official tip. They had no choice but to respond to those. But since no one had ever given a tip, it didn't really matter.<p>

At the words "loudest parties," Sydney had known that she was about to get her eardrums blasted, so she prepared herself for it. Unfortunately, she underestimated the noise level, an error that was corrected the moment they were ushered inside with instructions to drop the bottle off at "the present table."

The whole thing seemed pretty extravagant for a dorm party, but then Sydney realized that this person, whoever he was, was here at school on his birthday. His parents weren't around. He was one of those kids Ms. Terwilliger had mentioned, the kind that got pushed aside by parents who had no time for them.

Sydney surveyed her classmates mildly.

"These people are acting so stupid," she shouted over the noise. It was a pointless observation at best, but one she felt she needed to share.

"I know!" replied Julia. "Isn't it great?" The Alchemist never answered. Julia was walking towards the present table—code, it seemed, for where the bottles were dropped off.

"Party time," Julia announced and began pouring something into a red plastic cup. Sydney took the tiniest sniff. It smelled like a mix of rubbing alcohol and something sweet. Deciding that it was best to get it over with quickly, she attempted to take a giant swig. The result was a burning in her throat, heat in her stomach, and alcohol splatters on her shirt from when she coughed about half of it out.

It tasted pretty much how it smelled. Maybe a little bit worse.

"Maybe we should've saved the raspberry Smirnoff for later," Julia mused as Sydney gasped desperately. "Let's see if someone brought a chaser...yeah, okay, have some soda, okay? Hey! Someone brought chocolate liquor! Let me be your trusted guide in the realm of getting smashed, okay?"

"Sure."

At first Sydney felt guilty about going against morals she had kept to all her life, but she realized that so long as she thought of it as "my medicine" instead of "my liquid ticket to hell" she didn't feel so bad.

Time became relative pretty quickly, so Sydney wasn't sure when it was that it became okay for her to start singing Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" at the top of her lungs as it blasted through the portable stereo someone had been considerate enough to bring. Later on, she would decide that you know you're messed up when you think you can hit the high notes and sound good to yourself—and you need to _stop_ when you try to sing and find yourself mixing the lyrics.

"'Strangers living, waiting just find emotion,'" Sydney bellowed. Then she paused and frowned. "Wait, what?"

But Sydney was unaware of what she would end up calling "The Journey Rule" at the time and, before she knew what was happening, found herself sitting cross-legged on the ground (standing had long ago become an unreasonable concept), unable to sing any longer because she was laughing too hard at two boys who had gotten into an argument and were currently rolling around on the ground.

Julia had long since vanished into the crowd, but she appeared again, sitting beside her, more drinks in hand.

"You're so messed up," Julia told her.

"I'm not messed up!" Sydney argued between giggles. "I'm like this all the time."

"You're _so_ messed up," Julia repeated with a grin. With that, both girls started cracking up and remained that way for some time. Julia was pulled away to dance and offered to bring Sydney with her, but the Alchemist found that moving wasn't much of an option for her, so she stayed exactly where she was.

When she heard someone sit down next to her, she thought Julia had returned, but when she turned, she was surprised to see that Greg Slade was sitting beside her.

"Are you drunk?" he slurred, his face alarmingly red and a giant grin on his face. Sydney opened her mouth to answer, but found that her tongue felt too heavy to speak, so she nodded. Slade's grin widened. "Me too!" he crowed. He lifted up his hand for a high five and Sydney found the strength to deliver one.

"Drunk mob!" someone nearby shouted and Slade returned the call. Then he turned to Sydney and asked, "Are you drunk?"

Sydney was pretty sure it was the funniest thing that had ever happened in her life and dissolved into uncontrollable laughter, tears streaming down her face even as she rolled onto her back, knocking her head against the floor painfully.

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed around, causing everyone to come to a halt. Even the music was turned off. In the middle of the room, the guys who had been arguing earlier—Sydney vaguely recognized them as a couple football players—were lying face down on the ground, a broken lawn chair underneath them. Sydney wasn't sure when the lawn chair had come in, but suddenly, she could talk again.

"Two cheeseburgers broke the lawn chair," Sydney announced into the silence. She could barely understand herself, but her words must have been clear enough because for the rest of the night, people repeated her words, some of them inserting several profanities.

Julia came stumbling over and sat down on Sydney's other side.

"That was funny!" she giggled. "So funny funny funny funny!"

Sydney smiled stupidly. She was rarely told that she was funny. But Julia had. Julia...Julia had been so _nice_ to her! Helping her be distracted. Helping her get her medicine.

"You deserve a hug," Sydney mumbled. She reached over for Julia, but somehow found that their mouths were meeting instead. The thought of pulling away never even occurred to her, even as the sound of cellphone cameras clicking became background noise, and catcalls and whistles rang around her head.

Not long after that, Sydney blacked out.

* * *

><p>Kristin stared down at Sydney, unsure whether to be exasperated or amused or stunned. Then she remembered that a teacher was on their way and she needed to get her friend out of here in under fifteen minutes. All the other passed out people could deal with their own problems. Friends didn't let friends get caught by authorities while hungover.<p>

She leaned down and shook her blonde friend harshly. Sydney jerked and looked up for a second for squealing weakly and throwing her hands over her face to block out the light. Kristin could sympathize under normal circumstances having been in this position several times before, but there was no time for that now.

"Sydney," Kristin hissed, "there's a teacher coming. We need to go. Julia's ex-boyfriend got her out already. Now let's go."

"Guwey," Sydney replied. Kristin sighed. Clearly talking wasn't going to help.

She hauled Sydney up, surprised at how light the other girl was. Sydney was skinny, sure, but it felt like she weighed almost nothing.

"Where can I take you?" Kristin asked, giving Sydney another little shake. She knew it wasn't fair to shake a hungover person, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Sydney muttered something softly, so softly that Kristin couldn't catch it. It was almost like the other girl was used to being around people with super hearing. Kristin leaned in closer and at last she heard the word: "Adrian."

Kristin blinked, but shrugged. Okay then. Then she frowned.

"Where does he live?" she asked. But that much seemed to be beyond Sydney. On the bright side, she was beginning to wake up a little bit more. Kristin settled for tugging her along, out the door and almost crashed into someone. For a second, she was afraid it was a teacher, but she quickly recognized Sydney's siblings Jill and Eddie.

"Where does Adrian live?" Kristin blurted before they could ask any questions. Eddie caught sight of the half-limp Sydney and a strange look crossed his face. His gaze flickered down to the phone he was holding like one might hold a poisonous spider, but Jill began rattling off Adrian's address and directions to his apartment without hesitation.

"Thanks," Kristin said.

"No problem. Just take care of her until she gets to Adrian," Jill said. "Why _are_ you taking her to Adrian?"

"She asked for him," said Kristin. Surprise flashed across Jill's face.

"Oh," she said. "I thought you were taking her to him because Adrian's an alcoholic. Well, he was. He still kind of is but—" Jill seemed to catch herself in her rambling a took a deep breath before asking, "She asked for him? Really?"

Kristin opened her mouth to answer—or maybe even question whether or not it was wise to take Sydney to a known alcoholic—but Jill tensed up and Eddie held up a hand.

"Someone's coming," he said, the warning clear in his voice. Kristin couldn't hear anything, but took it on faith that Sydney's siblings wouldn't want her getting in trouble and took off with nothing but another grateful look sent in their direction.

* * *

><p>"Nice place your brother has," Kristin murmured as she parked. Sydney replied with an unintelligible mumble. Kristin saw the signs that her friend was on the very of throwing up—honestly, she was surprised she had made it this long without doing so already—and hastily jumped out of the car, running around to help Sydney out.<p>

"I'll help you up the stairs," Kristin said kindly. As carefully as they could while still moving swiftly, she and Sydney made their way up to where Jill had said Adrian's apartment was. Kristin knocked on the door just as her phone beeped, alerting her to a text message from Julia.

_Hury up or ur going 2 mss frst perod_

Kristin mumbled a couple quick curses. She needed to get back to class...but she couldn't leave Sydney until she was sure she was safe. Luckily, that was the moment the door opened. Sydney swayed slightly and Kristin realized she was completely out of Adrian's view. But even if she wasn't, she didn't think he would have noticed her.

His attention was all on his sister.

There was a pause in which his green eyes widened. Then a wicked smile broke across his face and he began to laugh. Kristin wasn't at the right angle to see, but she would've bet anything that Sydney was glaring as fiercely as a hungover person can, despite the fact that Adrian couldn't see it.

"You're hungover!" he said. Sydney winced and clamped her hands over his ears. Still grinning crazily, Adrian pulled Sydney into his apartment and shut the door behind him.

Kristin found herself almost glad that she wasn't going to be around for whatever happened inside that apartment.

* * *

><p>Random fact about my life: my mom had a German Shepard named Kahlua when she was younger. I've never bothered to ask why...<p> 


	20. Save Your Heart

So...we're about a week past me officially having gone 8 months without updating this. My only excuse is that I kept coming up with things but not being able to finish them because I eventually started to hate everything I came up with. But this kind of just clicked in my head while I was rereading the Vampire Academy books (don't ask how, because I don't know either). Also, I kept getting reviews from people saying all sorts of nice things and I kept feeling guilty that I wasn't updating... So, if anyone is actually reading this, I present to you my first update in over half a year. Yeah, I fail so hard...

Disclaimer: I don't own Bloodlines, nor do I know of anyone idiotic enough to think I do.

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><p><strong>Prompt Twenty: Save Your Heart by Mayday Parade<strong>

_And I know that you're scared_

_Seems like someone said you had it in you_

_All along you said you knew this was wrong_

_But still worth dying for_

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><p>When Dimitri walked back into Adrian's apartment to retrieve the book he had forgotten to grab but couldn't stand to be without, he wasn't expecting the simple nod of recognition he received. A snarky comment about memory being the first thing to go in the elderly would've been more...normal.<p>

"Shouldn't you be back at Court by now?" Adrian asked quietly, so subdued that Dimitri found himself legitimately concerned. Sure, he had, at times, wished for a calmer Adrian, but not like this. This was wrong.

"I forgot this," Dimitri said, lifting up the copy of one of his favorite Western novels that Rose constantly made fun of him for. Adrian snorted before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cigarettes, the cheap kind that he probably hated. The box looked new, as if it had just been bought. Dimitri waited until Adrian had one lit before he sat down next to the Moroi. In his head, he imagined Rose making some quip about the two of them having a "bro-talk" and the knowledge that he would be seeing her soon filled him with a great joy that he was careful to hide.

"I suppose," Adrian drawled lazily, "that you want to know why I'm sitting here, angsting like a pro. Or you couldn't care less. Either works for me." Instinctively, Dimitri wanted to point out that "angsting" wasn't a word, but reminded himself that he had walked into a delicate situation, even if he wasn't quite sure what the situation was exactly.

Dimitri nodded in reply, getting comfortable. He thought it was a sufficient answer. Apparently, it was not.

"I keep forgetting that you're the strong and silent type," muttered Adrian, the old sarcasm coming back. Smoke slipped past his lips as he spoke and he waited until he had exhaled it all before he continued speaking.

"To put it bluntly, I got shut down," Adrian said. "Again. Except this time...well, it's different this time. With Rose it hurt, but I think that more my pride than anything. But this? This makes me feel...numb. The kind of numb that comes just before the pain. The agonizing kind of pain that brings you down to your knees, the kind that hurts so much you can't even scream."

Another drag. Another exhale.

"I don't know what I really expected though. It's not like anything good can come out of something like this. Kissing her, telling her how I feel... It was impulsive. It was stupid. But..."

"But?" Dimitri pressed gently. He recalled a time when he hadn't been able to genuinely empathize as easily as he could now, but Rose had unknowingly taught him how and he was grateful for it every day.

"But it was worth it," Adrian said. "Just a kiss, that's all, but it was worth it. _Because she kissed me back._ And I can hold onto that, even if there's nothing else."

"You did it out of good intentions," Dimitri observed, thinking the words might perk Adrian up a bit. To his surprise, it caused the opposite reaction. Adrian stared off into space for a moment and when he turned back to the dhampir, his eyes were dark and almost lifeless.

"Well," he replied at last, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Is that where we're headed? Are we going to hell for what we are, Belikov? Were you and I born as creatures of the damned? Or is it just me?"

Dimitri knew the signs of Adrian's spirit-induced ramblings by now, and decided that sticking with the blunt truth would be the safest choice. He said slowly, cautiously, "I believe that there are many people in this world who deserve to be damned. But I don't believe that you could ever be one of them."

"I certainly have the karma of one," Adrian sighed. As if some mysterious switch had been flipped, he was perfectly normal again. Well, except for the doom-and-gloom attitude.

Dimitri leaned back, inconspicuously avoiding inhaling second-hand smoke. "Maybe," he suggested dryly, "it isn't due to karma so much as it is the fact that the woman you chose to pursue was the one who would ultimately lead to an...unorthodox relationship."

Adrian laughed a humorless laugh. "Are _you_ about to lecture me on unorthodox relationships? Because you'll have to forgive me if I can't take that seriously coming from the guy who's dating his ex-student."

The fact that Adrian could say something like that so very casually spoke legions to Dimitri. Before he had a chance to comment on this particular development, Adrian jerked upright and was staring at the guardian intently.

"What," he asked, "would possibly make you think that a relationship with, ah, this particular person would've been unorthodox?"

Dimitri arched an eyebrow. "Well, what would _you _call a relationship with a human? And an Alchemist at that."

"Was I really that obvious?"

Dimitri smiled slightly. "Subtelty isn't exactly one of your strong suits," he said. "Besides, I can't think of anyone aside from Sydney with the common sense to 'shut you down.'" Dimitri knew perfectly well that Sydney's rejection was in no way due to common sense of any sort, but he figured it was more pleasant than the truth. Morals were harder to shake off than common sense, especially when it came to matters of the heart. Adrian's lips quirked up into a faint smile before his troubled frown returned. He took another drag before speaking.

"Well, apparently," Adrian said, emerald eyes taking a haunted gleam, "she missed the signs somehow. Then again, she's one of the most socially inept people I've ever met in my life."

"She's not _that_ bad," Dimitri protested. The look Adrian sent him almost made him laugh. Once again, all traces of humor vanished, and Adrian visibly sunk back into his state of silent misery. But he had words, and Dimitri knew that they were coming soon. And then they did.

He said, "I don't know what to do." The admission of defeat, of vulnerability was astounding.

"You could always move on," Dimitri suggested, but he didn't mean the words at all. He must've sounded serious enough, though, because Adrian pinned Dimitri with a dangerous stare.

"Are you saying I'm wasting my time over this?" he asked, a new, sharper edge to his words.

"What I'm saying," Dimitri said, taking note of the change in the Moroi's tone, "is that you should find out just how much of your heart is worth investing in her before you do anything drastic."

"All of it," replied Adrian quietly. "All of it."

After a moment of deliberation, Dimitri said, "Prove it. To yourself, if no one else." The words held a ring of finality, implying that Dimitri's motivational speech was over.

It wasn't that he didn't believe Adrian's words. In fact, he believed him entirely. He very much wanted to tell Adrian so, but in his experience, the best cure for misery is a bizarre adventure. And anything Adrian Ivashkov could possibly come up with in response to his challenge would most definitely be a bizarre adventure—although whether this particular journey would be mental or physical, Dimitri hadn't the slightest clue.

Adrian put out his cigarette—finally realizing, Dimitri observed with amusement, that he had been smoking nothing but filter for the past few minutes—and a ghost of a smile graced his mouth.

"Rose was right about you," he said. "You really are full of Zen bullshit."

And because it was Adrian whom he was speaking to, Dimitri translated that to be "Thank you." Of course, he could've been wrong, but sometimes ignorance is bliss. He stood up, book in hand and made to walk toward the door.

"I don't know if I can," Adrian admitted suddenly, stopping Dimitri in his tracks. "I don't think...I don't think I could even look at her right now, much less find some way to 'prove' what she means to me."

Without turning around, Dimitri said, "Who said it had to be right now? Only you can choose your pace, your path. And that's fine. But I don't think it will take you that long. Someday—someday very soon—you will find the strength to either be certain that all of this is worth it, or if you should've saved your heart. I know you will. Because you're better than this." And with that, he became the second person to walk out the door that day, completely unaware of the fact that Adrian had heard those very same words from Rose what felt like a lifetime ago.

_You're better than this._

They hadn't comforted him then, and they most certainly weren't comforting now.

* * *

><p>If Sydney had been asked to compile a list of people who she thought might show up outside her room at some ungodly hour, Adrian Ivashkov would have been a mile away from the top. A common suspect would've been her father, although at Amberwood, Ms. Terwilliger had taken up <em>that <em>particular position. But Adrian? Absolutely not. In fact, they hadn't had so much as a full conversation in a couple weeks, not since—_no_. No, she was not going to go there tonight, although thinking about it made her reconsider whether or not Adrian showing up at her dorm room at midnight was really all that weird. After all, he'd pulled crazier stunts.

_Like kissing you,_ the incredibly unhelpful voice in the back of her mind reminded her slyly. Sydney banished the voice and tuned into the real world. The awkward silence was so thick that the Alchemist was seriously concerned over whether or not she was about to start hyperventilating. Because it had to be the silence that was causing her heart to pound wildly like this, the silence that was making filling her lungs with air a task of Herculean proportions. Sydney refused to believe it could be anything else. She opened her mouth, intending to be completely business-like, the typical Alchemist attitude rather than the you-kissed-me-and-I-kissed-you-back-then-you-laid-your-heart-and-soul-out-to-me-and-I-totally-rejected-you attitude.

What came out instead was: "Are you...stalking me?" She wanted to slap herself immediately after letting the words out. Stalking? Seriously? Yes, the circumstances surrounding their friendship—if she could even call it that at this point—were...complicated, but this was still _Adrian_. Even if their relationship was strictly a professional one—which it was, Sydney reminded herself hastily—it wasn't _that_ weird for him to show up. It was possible that he needed something entirely impersonal, although Sydney was unable to think of anything impersonal that he might want which couldn't wait until daylight hours.

Adrian took her idiocy gracefully. "Stalking," he said casually, "is a _very_ strong word, don't you think? The term I prefer to use is 'dedicated following.'"

Sydney blinked, stunned speechless at the easy way he spoke. Adrian took her silence for alarm and added quickly, "That was a joke. Sorry. I forgot that the curriculum of Alchemist education doesn't include a sense of humor." At the mention of Alchemists, Sydney was overwhelmed with the memory of the kiss as well as her reasons for having ended it. She sucked in a tight breath in the same moment that Adrian flinched. It seemed that his words brought the same thoughts to his mind as well. The awkward silence returned.

Watching Adrian standing in the doorway without making any attempts to move inside made Sydney think of the old—and unfortunately untrue—legend of vampires not being able to enter a private residence without invitation. Admittedly, a dorm at Amberwood probably wasn't qualified to be a private residence, but whether it counted or not didn't make a difference either way.

Her diplomatic Alchemist teachings kicked in quickly, and Sydney took a step to the side, a silent invitation for him to come in. He did so slowly, and Sydney noticed that he seemed to keep as much distance between them as possible while still being subtle about it. But she noticed him, even though she tried desperately not to. She noticed every slow movement of his body, noticed his eyes—they were so _green_ and she had missed them, missed _him—_as they inspected the room studiously, but still glancing at her face every so often.

It seemed like he was just as powerless to remain unaware of her presence as she was of his. Sydney had to remind herself very sternly that this was _not_ a good thing, so those pleasurable shivers had no right to be shooting up her spine.

In much need of something distracting, she groped for a neutral subject, and instead came up with a question that had been nagging at her from the moment she opened her door to find Adrian was the one knocking.

"How did you even get in here?" Sydney asked suspiciously. When Adrian didn't answer and avoided her stare, Sydney came to an unpleasant conclusion: "Did you _compel_ Mrs. Weathers into letting you come to my room?"

"No!" said Adrian defensively. Then he paused. "Yeah." His tone had gone from defensive to sheepish in a matter of seconds.

"I can't believe you!" Sydney exclaimed. Her outrage didn't come from concern for the dorm matron so much as it did from the action itself. She wouldn't realize it until much later, but she had successfully caused all the awkwardness in the room to evaporate. In fact, this was the closest they'd ever been to how they used to be before the kiss that had changed everything. What was it that he had said?

_For once, you're going to hear something that doesn't fit into your neat, compartmentalized world of order and logic and reason. _

She had. And it had left her wondering if she could ever get back to that world. She wondered if her order and logic and reason could ever be properly restored. So far it wasn't seeming like it.

Adrian shrugged in response. The motion alone brought Sydney back to reality, and her swirling emotions settled down into simple indignation when he said, "I'm kind of a work-in-progress."

"That," Sydney said tightly, "is an understatement."

She waited for his witty retort, but none came. Instead, Adrian had his gaze cast up at the ceiling. When he looked down, his expression was, for once, unreadable.

"Okay," he said quietly, so quietly that she barely heard him.

"Pardon?" she asked, eyebrows raised. Adrian waved a hand dismissively.

"I'll see you at Clarence's, Sage." And then he left. Just...left.

It was almost like a karmic slap in the face, Sydney thought, that he would be the one to walk out this time with only a single glance back at her before closing the door behind him. It was almost poetic, really.

And normally, she might have called him out on his erratic, confusing behavior, but the sound of her name coming from his lips so gently instead of that stiff, formal tone she had grown used to sent paralyzing, electric tingles throughout her body.

Sydney was left with the feeling that Adrian had gotten what he wanted, and whatever it was, it was not at all impersonal.

* * *

><p>"I would die," Adrian murmured to himself in the silence of the night. "I would take death a hundred times to love and be loved by you just once." Which would sound very nice on a Hallmark card, but in practice rather than principle, it was incredibly unfortunate. Especially since he wasn't entirely sure what he meant by it anyway. Whatever it was, it sounded quite painful.<p>

And yes, maybe dying was a bit melodramatic—possibly one of those "drastic" things Adrian had been warned against doing—but regardless, he had proved his point to himself, just as the hulking Russian had told him to.

In truth, it didn't exactly make him feel _better._ It did, however, give him comfort to know that he wasn't wasting his heartache over nothing. God knew it hurt. All of it—every memory of her, the amber color of her eyes, the unforgettable sensation of her lips against his—but the memories were worth it. Whether Sydney ever loved him in return or not, Adrian would continue to love her, to keep his heart saved for her and only her. There would also probably be a lot of lovesick pouting, forlorn stares, and cigarettes involved.

For as long as he had to, he would wait, he would cling to the pain, even if he had to wait forever.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Notice how I completely and utterly avoided any sort of conclusion? Yeah, me too. And no one better tell me that this isn't going to happen in The Indigo Spell, because _I know that_. But that doesn't mean I can't pretend. Besides, The Golden Lily technically made a majority of the last nineteen chapters of this entire story completely impossible. So there. :) In other good news, I have chapter 21 written, uploaded, and ready to be posted, so you guys won't have to wait another 8 months! Sorry. Too soon to joke about it? Yeah, I completely understand.


	21. Midnight City

_So many reviews!_ :D Is it wrong that I'm happy you all missed me? I absolutely loved getting reviews from people who have been following this story since about the time I first started it, people who only found out about it recently, and people everywhere in between. To the old faces (and considering how long it's been since I updated, the list has gotten pretty damn long), can I just say how delighted I am that you're still with me, even after all this time? In all seriousness, it both astonishes me and makes me want to cry with a fat dopey smile on my face. Any newbies: I'm equally happy to have you, and I hope you stick around too. :)

As a bribe to keep you all with me even longer, here is the Valentine's Day-themed one-shot that I promised oh-so-long ago. It's kind of ironic since we're closer to Halloween than everyone's favorite Hallmark holiday, but I think irony is an important part in life. Besides, better 8 months late than never, right?

Disclaimer: Well, you guys know the drill by now. You've already heard it twenty times before. I don't own anything.

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><p><strong>Prompt Twenty-One: Midnight City by M83<strong>

_Waiting in a car_

_Waiting for a ride in the dark_

_Night city grows_

_Look and see her eyes, they glow_

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><p>Sydney had always liked Palm Springs at night. It was never dark here with all the lights, whether they came from neon signs or brightly lit windows. There was no absolute darkness in which monsters could come out and steal you away. The other nice thing was all the noise. Silence may be peaceful, but the distraction of sound tends to drown out unpleasant thoughts. And right now, Sydney had several unpleasant thoughts. Turning back to view Adrian's living room, she found her eyes once against assaulted by the garish decorations he had put up. That, too, was a good form of wiping out unpleasant things.<p>

"It's very...pink," she observed as politely as she could. And so it was. Adrian had recently "found his calling" in what he incorrectly claimed was origami, and had now cut out a string of paper hearts which he had proceeded to put up everywhere, as well as pink confetti scattered across the apartment. Sydney didn't have the heart to point out that he had a lot of vacuuming to do when the night was over.

"I know," Adrian said proudly. He shot a small smile in her direction and she found herself thinking that maybe the slightly overdone Valentine's Day decorations weren't _that_ bad. The only question was whether or not Jill and Eddie would appreciate it. Speaking of those two...

"I can't believe you're willing to leave Jill and Eddie in your apartment _alone_ for three hours," said Sydney, torn between disapproval at the potential irresponsibility of this, and a strange melting sensation in her chest when she thought about how very adorable her friends were. Her newly found romantic side argued that Eddie would never do anything that could harm Jill in any way at all (particularly regarding her reputation), so where else could she possibly be safer?

Adrian crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the counter easily, a stance Sydney noticed he often took when he was trying hard to be casual about something that he very much did not find casual. He said, "It isn't like they can have their little romantic date the school. They're supposed to be siblings. Besides, just because Jailbait is like a little sister doesn't mean I can't be a full supporter in her love life. It's the least I can do for her, all things considered." He didn't elaborate on what the last part was supposed to mean. He didn't need to. Sydney already knew what he meant: he felt guilty for all the suffering Jill had had no choice but to go through as Adrian struggled to deal with his heartbreak.

Sometimes Sydney wondered if Jill still felt it. She would have to be better at blocking Adrian's thoughts than anyone realized if she could ignore the deep sadness that Sydney sometimes saw in Adrian's eyes. Sydney would've tried to comfort him, but it's kind of a tricky thing to do when you're the cause of said heartbreak.

Today, however, had been going quite well and Sydney refused to ruin it with dark thoughts.

Instead, she wondered if she could do the same thing for Zoe. Then she remembered that she and her youngest sister weren't on speaking terms so it didn't really matter if Zoe had someone to spend tonight with or not. More unpleasant thoughts. She turned her gaze back to the street, listening to the cars through the open window.

"Sage," Adrian said, sounding as if he had tried to get her attention multiple times. "Let's get out of here. Jailbait and Castile should be here any minute." Sydney eyed the clock on the wall that Adrian had just put up. It was oversized and red and heart-shaped, but it also told the correct time so Sydney didn't comment. It was almost 10.

"Yeah, I should probably get back to school," she said. She was going to be late, but that was fine by her. Clearly, Adrian was of an entirely different opinion.

"You're going to leave me alone on Valentine's Day?" he demanded, sounded aghast at the very idea. Sydney blinked back at him.

"I assumed you would go to LA," she told him truthfully. "Find some Moroi girls." She didn't bother to mention the fact that she thought she would be the last person Adrian might want to see on this particular day. Nor did she mention how badly it would bother her if he did seek company in someone else, even though she had no reason to be bothered. If Adrian caught onto what she was purposely not saying, he didn't comment on it.

"I have a test tomorrow," he told her. "Better to be roaming the streets until one in the morning and be exhausted for the test than miss it completely."

"That's really...mature of you," Sydney said, oddly pleased. Adrian smiled at her again.

"You sound so surprised," he said almost teasingly. But she wasn't surprised at all, not really.

"Let's just get out of here," was her only reply, echoing his earlier words. She didn't bother to tell him she was staying with him. He had to know that she wouldn't be going back to school the second he asked her not to.

_This can't be healthy._

But then Adrian was smiling the amused smile that she had once taken for granted. In that moment she promised herself that she would never again forget how fragile and precious that casual-seeming smile truly was. And when that smile was turned on her, what was healthy and what was not became scarily irrelevant.

* * *

><p>As Adrian listened to the scattered conversations in the Chinese restaurant, he wondered whether or not it was a good thing that Sydney couldn't hear all the fellow patrons discuss how cute the two of them were. On one hand, she might freak out and that would be incredibly unfortunate because she seemed so very peaceful right now. Besides, he considered this to be "progress" and he would hate to ruin that. On the other hand, she might...well, Adrian wasn't quite sure, but he was curious to find out. He was also happy to fantasize, which probably destroyed most of the "progress" he told himself he was making. In the end, his worry of Sydney reacting negatively won out, and he didn't say a thing.<p>

Watching her poke at her chow mein with chopsticks was worth his silence. Actually, her company alone was worth most anything. And since it was Valentine's Day, he could pretend that walking around aimless with Sydney while Jailbait and Eddie did god-knows-what in his apartment—although to be honest, they probably weren't do anything Adrian wouldn't do—could be considered a date. Not that he planned on telling her that either.

Adrian smiled to himself at his own sneakiness, even as warnings of the high price he would later pay for his stupidity filled his head. It was true, he knew. He would be alone and depressed in his dark apartment in only a few hours, and it would suck just as badly as it did every time he did something stupid like this, maybe even a little bit worse. But in this moment, a few hours seemed like a very long time, in the most pleasant way imaginable.

"Where to next?" Sydney asked suddenly. Adrian stared out the window thoughtfully. What _was_ next? Suddenly, he felt someone lean over his shoulder and nearly toppled out of the booth.

"There's the street fair." The words were spoken more loudly than necessary, and Adrian cringed slightly. Then his brain processed what this mysterious stranger—a sweet-faced old woman who was wearing hearing aids—had just said. His childish nature reared it's adorable head.

"Street fair?" he repeated. Adrian had never been to a street fair, but he had imagined what one might be like: cotton candy, running around, throwing up previously mentioned cotton candy, winning giant teddy bears...

Who in their right mind would pass up on something like that? He cast a pleading look at Sydney—because if anyone was going to be accused of avoiding anything that involved fun as if it were some fatal disease, it would be Sydney Sage—who stared into the distance for a moment. Adrian figured she was quickly calculating the pros and cons of the situation. Whether he was wrong or right, she consented with a nod.

_Victory._

Adrian paused only long enough to pay for the food before sprinting out the door. Once he hit the sidewalk, he remembered that he wasn't quite sure where the street fair was. He tilted his head to the side and waited impatiently. Sydney pushed open the door and stepped beside him. She had a fortune cookie in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.

"Directions," she said, holding up the paper. She handed him the fortune cookie and said, "For you."

Adrian cracked it open and pulled out the little piece of paper.

"'The greatest danger could be your stupidity,'" he read aloud. If he was the superstitious type, Adrian would be alarmed. Sydney chuckled and the sound was made even more beautiful than it usually was because right now, against all odds, she was laughing for him.

"I think a cookie just called you stupid," she said and started walking.

He caught up with her in just a few long strides and asked, "Well, what did yours say?" There was a pause before she spoke that was just long enough for Adrian to wonder if Sydney's aversion to food stretched so far that she would pass up on a fortune cookie.

"'A dream is just a dream'," she quoted, and there was something like wistfulness in her voice. Well. Her fortune cookie had certainly made its opinions clear, just as his had. But Adrian Ivashkov would not be deterred by cosmic messages from a cookie. Nor would he mention his own thoughts on the subject. Yet.

"I like yours a lot better," Adrian told her crossly.

Sydney looked faintly amused.

* * *

><p>Much to his disappointment—or so he claimed—Adrian did not vomit up his cotton candy. By all rights, he should have, Sydney thought as she recalled how much he had eaten, although maybe the fact that he didn't was for the better. But try as she might, Sydney was having trouble paying attention to anything but the six words ringing around her head.<p>

_A dream is just a dream._

Sydney generally put enough stock in the Alchemist beliefs to ignore all other superstitions, but when she had cracked open her cookie and read the small printed words on the slip of paper inside, she couldn't deny the strange feeling that pulsed through her. It just made so much _sense. _After all, Sydney had a lot of dreams, none of which seemed at all possible. Maybe this was a warning of some kind. Divine intervention perhaps, a message that she needed to remember that some dreams were exactly that and never meant to be a reality. A reminder that no matter how much she wanted this night to last forever, all good things ended eventually.

Admittedly, it took some work staying so pessimistic while the world around her seemed so transcendent. And Adrian also posed a pleasant potential distraction. But if everything she was living now was part of her wildest dreams...

Or maybe the fortune cookie was just a slip of paper on which a generic sentence had been typed out and it was sheer coincidence that she had received it. Sydney took a split second to decide which she was going to choose to believe.

It wasn't a hard decision to make.

She let her gaze slide to Adrian who was currently licking the last bits of cotton candy off of his fingers, staring off absently at the city life that continued to move along endlessly in front of them. Suddenly, he turned and met her eyes, a strange look on his face. It froze her in place. Because she knew without knowing that something was about to happen, something just as surreal as the night around them. She thought she just might be ready for it.

"Hey, Sage?" he said slowly, and she wished her heart wouldn't beat so quickly. "Do you ever wonder if—"

Several sounds like gunshots exploded into the night, followed by shouts and screams and delighted laughter. Sydney yelped and ducked into the warmth and safety that her subconscious promised her Adrian would provide, but paused when she felt the rumbling of contained laughter in his chest. He kept one arm around her shoulders even as she shifted into a more comfortable position. Sydney did her best to pretend she didn't notice that he hadn't let go of her, just as he obviously pretended to not notice that she hadn't put any distance between them. If anything, she had ended up pushing herself closer.

In an effort to ignore the entire situation, Sydney looked up to the sky that Adrian had already been studying. What she saw caused her breath to catch slightly as she was swept into a wave of awe.

Any darkness that the city lights did not wipe out had vanished, replaced by fireworks.

"It's midnight!" someone shouted just as another one flew up with a sharp whistle, once again shattering the blackness of the sky several seconds later into what looked like two tangled hearts. Valentine's Day was officially over.

"This," announced Adrian, "has got to be the corniest thing I've ever seen. I wish Jailbait and Castile could see this from my apartment." The criticism was delivered unconvincingly, making Sydney to smile a tiny bit. But his lips brushed her hair gently as he spoke, and she found she had trouble following his words. She nodded instead, listening carefully to his heart beating, positioned right under her ear.

_A dream is just a dream._

Maybe when the sun rose, the statement would become true. But a person might make the argument that this magical midnight city was the perfect place for dreams to mix with reality and become something so much bigger, so much _better._

Or so Sydney Sage allowed herself to believe.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I totally had to disregard anything involving Angeline in this chapter, which makes me a little bit sad. Also, I'm pretty sure I threw just about every cliche I could think of into this. So, was it worth the wait? If it wasn't...well, I won't be offended—as long as you don't tell me.


	22. Starts With One

Best thing ever happened to me today: I got to make a movie reference in my econ homework. Oh, I _love_ being a senior in high school... I think my guilt for not updating is making me write like a crazy person... Not that I have any issue with that. Just as a warning, Sydney is going to be incredibly OOC in this...but jealous!Sydney is an idea that has always been tempting to me, so I'm going for it. :)

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Twenty-Two: Starts With One by Shiny Toy Guns<strong>

_Now there's two, I can't see_

_I've never felt this way_

_I can't feel_

_Anything anyway_

* * *

><p>It shouldn't bother her the way it was, Sydney knew it shouldn't. But it did. The words grated against her aggressively and it was slowly, slowly, slowly driving her insane. Miraculously, she kept her fuming to herself, even as she was subjected to listen to the girls of her volleyball team discuss Adrian's hotness after their practice. And it was really, really irritating Sydney.<p>

If it had been irritating her in a way that stemmed solely from disgust at the idea of humans finding a vampire visually appealing, well, that would've been okay. That was an Alchemist instinct. What was driving her reaction, though, was jealousy. She didn't bother to deny it. She wanted to, but it was unrealistic. Besides, at this point she was too irked to even remember why her acting like some jealous girlfriend—which she wasn't, and she never could be—was practically a sin.

She wasn't sure what she was jealous of exactly. Maybe it was the other girls' freedom to express their opinions. Maybe it was that they were expressing them in the first place. Most likely, it was just that Adrian was involved at all, and anything that included him tended to mess with Sydney's emotions.

"My God, he's dreamy," Regina sighed softly. Sydney kept her scowl hidden with her hair. One would think that the other girls would wait to have this discussion until after the "sister" of the object of their affections was _gone_, but no, they acted as if she weren't there. That was yet another thing that fueled the flames burning wildly in her chest.

Sydney forced herself to think logically, blocking out the conversation as she remembered why she couldn't feel this way.

_It starts with one, _she reminded herself. _Just one slip-up, kind of like this, and then there's no going back. _

The very second she regained her composure, it was snapped by—

"I just might be in love with him," Shanna said with a ridiculous giggle. "Think he's a good kisser? I bet he is."

On a personal level, Sydney normally had no issue with the girl, despite the fact that she was appalling lazy and (somehow) always managed to have some kind of "injury" that allowed her to sit out of the games. Not that Sydney could blame her. To call the girl was physically unfit would be the kindest way of phrasing it.

Unfortunately, Shanna's remarks had both hit disturbingly close to home, and the Alchemist lashed out uncharacteristically.

"Oh, shut up, Snuffleupagus," Sydney snapped. "No one cares what you think."

While it was true that Sydney hadn't watched much TV growing up, her mother had been adamant that she be introduced to at least _Sesame Street_. "How else is she supposed to learn to count?" she had asked with a completely serious look on her face.

And with Shanna's thick, knotted brown hair and rather large figure, the girl did bear a striking resemblance to Mr. Snuffleupagus. Of course Sydney knew that no one able to escape their genetics, and generally didn't judge people by appearances. But jealousy did crazy things to a person. Like make them incredibly sour-tempered and petty. It was pretty low of her for her to say, and she almost regretted it immediately. Almost.

Astonished silence filled the whole locker room. In fact, Shanna seemed more startled than offended. No one, however, was more surprised than Sydney herself. She was supposed to have more control than this. In fact, she wasn't supposed to be feeling like this at all. And now, she was acting like a crazy, bitchy girlfriend and that was not good, for more than just the fact that it was just moving her along the path that would land ultimately her in a re-education center.

As previously stated, Sydney was supposed to be Adrian's sister. Not having any brothers, she couldn't be sure, but she was pretty sure sisters didn't act like this. So either Sydney had just blown their cover, or her situation had gone from infuriating to awkward.

_Well...crap._

* * *

><p>It took an agonizing amount of damage control to fix the mess she'd gotten into. It also included the most ironic lie Sydney had ever told.<p>

"He's...well, he's been hurt by a lot of girls," she told Shanna apologetically, purposely thinking of Rose rather than herself. "It's made me kind of protective over him. We all are. Sorry about what I said, I just...well, you know." Or at least, Sydney hoped they knew, because she sure as hell didn't. Luckily, this line of logic seemed to make perfect sense to her teammates because the curious looks vanished, replaced by thoughtful nods and hums of agreement. Sydney had a feeling they wouldn't be talking about Adrian in front of her again.

"I knew you didn't want to nail your brother," Shanna said bluntly. Okay, maybe she had been a little miffed by the Snuffleupagus comment. Sydney's vision started to tunnel and she was afraid she might pass out. Was she going into shock? Or was it just the overload of emotions and (incredibly indecent) images that practically assaulted her at the words?

"That's sick," someone called, although Sydney couldn't say who it was. She barely noticed at all, although if she had, she might have found some irony in the words. After all, it _was_ pretty sick, considering that Adrian was a vampire and she was thinking about...well...yeah. The Alchemist closed her eyes and fought against the overwhelming feelings that she didn't want. She didn't have time for this.

She made her exit not long after, and as soon as she left the room, she surrendered to her panic. Just before she finally let herself explode, Jill walked by. Sydney considered this a good thing, seeing as she wasn't exactly sure what kind of form her explosion would've taken, and there's only so much odd behavior a person can explain away in one day.

Jill's eyes widened with alarm. The Alchemist wondered if she really looked that bad. She must have because Jill sounded as if she was talking to a feral creature when she said, "Sydney? Are you okay? I mean, obviously you aren't, so I guess what I should really ask if what happened, but I—" With obvious restraint, she stopped talking and waited.

Distressed and unable to think clearly, Sydney relayed the whole story to the Moroi girl. All the while, Jill's jade eyes watched her with a dangerous scrutiny. Had she thought about her actions, Sydney would've realized that this was just the sort of opportunity Jill had been waiting for.

"You're jealous," she announced, an bitter sort of triumph in her voice. The Alchemist just barely refrained from cursing aloud. She had completely forgotten how displeased Jill had been with her over what happened with Adrian. Jill, it seemed, had taken the rejection slightly worse than Adrian.

"I'm not jealous," insisted Sydney, but she might as well have been claiming that the sky was magenta. Jill caught the scent of weakness and attacked without hesitation.

"You _are_," she said, almost angrily. "You are, and this is where it starts, Sydney. This is where it starts." There was no need to ask what "it" meant.

Once again, the words rang around the Alchemist's head: _It starts with one. Just one slip-up._ Sydney took what was supposed to be a calming breath, but her heart was beating too forcefully in her chest for her to really do so. She needed to leave, to escape, to drive away from this mess. She needed to find a place where she could hide away, just for an hour or two.

Jill seemed to notice Sydney's anguish and her gaze softened.

"I know how it feels," she said, looking down and Sydney realized that Jill had to watch Eddie and Angeline and their nausea-inducing romantic antics all day long. And Angeline probably talked about it incessantly when the two of them were alone. And Jill, sweet Jill, was too kind—maybe even too shy as well—to say a word. Sydney felt her heart break a little bit for her.

Then they shared a moment of understanding, of compassion for each other and their respective situations. For a moment, Sydney accepted it. Then she realized what she was doing and booked it like there was a horde of Strigoi had just invaded Amberwood.

Jill didn't say a word, simply smiled a sad smile that Sydney did not see.

* * *

><p>She was at his apartment before she realized what was happening. This was the not a place where she was going to forget any of her problems.<p>

Or was it?

She felt an ache, an agonizing need to see him, just for a minute. It had been so long since she had seen his face up close and she wanted to know if her memory was accurate. She wanted to see him for a million other reasons as well, but this one...this one was the easiest for her to deal with for whatever reason.

Knowing full well that she had clearly lost her mind, Sydney marched bravely...until she ended up simply glowering at his door as if it had done her some great injustice by being closed. Which it had. It meant she had to knock and if she had to knock—

And then the door flew open without her knocking at all. He'd probably heard her stomping here all the way from the parking lot. For an idiotic moment, all she could think was that the girls in the locker room were right: Adrian was hot. But that was general knowledge, wasn't it?

"Sage?" Adrian asked, visibly puzzled. Sydney didn't blame him for his bewilderment. She was almost as confused as he was, after all.

"That's me," Sydney said, confirming her statement with a slight nod. _Oh God. That didn't really just happen, did it? Yes, yes I think it did._

Adrian seemed more amused by her idiocy than anything. The tiniest smile pushed the corners of his mouth—which she had subtly been paying an indecent amount of attention to—upwards, something that would've made Sydney smile in return if not for the fact that it reminded her of Shanna's innocent ponderings on his kissing skills.

She swallowed, unable to stop herself from silently supplying the answer: _His kiss makes the rest of the world fade into nothing but white noise in the background, wipes away everything you've ever known. It's earth-shattering, and it causes you to just _melt_. It's one of the most wonderful things in the world. Even if it's only for a moment. Even if I pulled away. And if you _ever_ come into the position in which you might find this out through personal experience, I'll rearrange your face with a spoon. And it will hurt. _

Her bizarre thoughts caused Sydney to inwardly cringe. The other reason for the inward cringe was that she wanted to kiss him. Badly. She imagined it clearly, how easy it would be to step forward, to tangle her fingers in the fabric of his shirt. To pull him closer, to close the distance and press her lips to his. And then...then she didn't have to imagine it. All she had to do was remember what it felt like to be held, to be kissed by Adrian Ivashkov. It wasn't an experience easily forgotten. The Alchemist would know. She had tried—and failed.

However, Sydney was fully aware that anything involving Adrian (but especially things that involved both Adrian _and_ kissing) would not, in fact, be so easy. No, the world they both belonged to, the rules they had to follow, made such a simple action so very complex.

But she still wanted to. She still wanted that kiss. She still wanted _him_.

Adrian brought her out of her thoughts. "Do you...do you need something?"

She knew it was a good thing, but his somewhat lackadaisical response to her arrival bothered her more than anything she had heard in the locker room. But this was what she was _supposed_ to want. This was how it should be, the way it should've been this whole time.

She hesitated before answering, and even then, her response was a little dubious. "I—no?"

_It starts with one. One slip-up. _It was like a mantra that Sydney couldn't stop repeating to herself. But then Jill's words came back to her as well: _This is where it starts._

Sydney memorized everything that she could about Adrian in the short seconds she had before he opened his mouth to respond. God only knew when the next time she would have an opportunity to study him again. It would probably be a long time, considering how humiliating she would find her break in resolve once the euphoria of being near him, alone with him, faded. That aside, she was probably better off keeping as much distance from him as she possibly could. And yet...and yet, she dreaded the prospect of leaving that brilliant, green gaze.

"Look, I should—" Sydney started hastily.

Adrian cut her off almost immediately by asking, "Do you want to come inside?"

What compelled him to ask her such a question was beyond her comprehension, and it took her by such surprise that Sydney finally met his eyes evenly without meaning to, lost in the emerald pools of uncertainty, of nervousness that pulled her in without mercy. And then, quite suddenly, she knew that she had been wrong this whole time. She had been wrong, Jill had been wrong, but Sydney understood now.

It didn't start with one slip-up, or a below-the-belt insult tossed out in a locker room. It didn't start with the jealousy that she fought to control, with the need she struggled to ignore. Love didn't start with a mistake.

_It starts now._

"Yes," she said, never taking her eyes away from his. "Yes I would."

* * *

><p>Whoa. <em>Hella <em>OOC, even for me... It totally wasn't supposed to end like that, just by the way. In fact, I'm not even sure how that happened. Sometime while I was writing this I just shifted into corniness. Whether this is a bad or a good thing is, I guess, ultimately up to you guys.


	23. Living In Oblivion

Mhm. We're going old school up in the Shuffle. ;) So, I guess we must really be back into the swing of things because **PryingLittlePandora** must be mentioned in my A/N for giving me this idea. Again. I'm seriously starting to wonder how you know what to say to kick my brain into gear. I also feel like I'm half-stealing your genius. My bad. Hopefully it's worth it. :3

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I just borrowed the characters to amuse myself for lack of anything better to do. Well, aside from go to hoedowns at my little brother's school and watch him awkwardly ask my best friend to be his square dancing partner. In retrospect, I feel kind of bad for laughing so hard...

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Twenty-Three: Living In Oblivion by Anything Box<strong>

_Don't tell me now_

_I won't feel those words, I won't feel the lies they tell_

_Can you hear my scream?_

_It's for everyone, for everyone_

* * *

><p>It could not be said that Angeline didn't learn certain tricks from being around the dhampirs in Palm Springs. She had learned quite a few things, actually, although some of those things had been less pleasant than others.<p>

The ability to kick extreme ass—or rather, _polishing _her ability to kick extreme ass—was one. The stoic guardian face was another. Angeline was also learning to enjoy the pleasures of being "a civilized person." Her most highly prized newly developed skill, however, was the ability to watch, but not be noticed. It was a skill she used frequently, but not always in the way she was supposed to. In fact, she mostly watched Adrian and Sydney.

They had originally been a source of mild irritation to Angeline. It was nothing personal—she just disliked useless people. And as far as she had been concerned when she first met them, they were even more useless than what Keepers considered average among outsiders. Having spent more time with the two of them, and having seen their own particular skill sets, the dhampir girl had a new respect for them, although she was still convinced that they were pitiful fighters in comparison to others. "Others" of course being Angeline. Usefulness aside, the two of them had been bumped up to fascinating now that they were "together" (Sydney, it appeared, was unable to call their relationship anything less vague without blushing furiously while Adrian smiled at her like an idiot).

Angeline watched them as they moved along in their lives, dealing with the complications as they came, but somehow finding a way to continue on. In fact, they acted as if neither one of their respective races had any issue with them dating. As if they wouldn't be shunned—at the very least—for however long they were together, assuming it didn't leave a permanent taint on them. But so far, it was seeming like they might be together for a very long time.

"Probably even forever," Jill liked to sigh dreamily. It wasn't all that hard to believe.

Yes, Adrian and Sydney went on with their lives so casually that, if Angeline didn't know better, she would've said they were oblivious to everything and everyone outside their little bubble of love. She knew that there must be stress, tension, but it didn't seem to make any impact on them.

If asked her opinion on the Moroi-human pairing, Angeline would simply say that the only thing she found disgusting about it was the overwhelming vibes of sugary sweet romance that radiated off of both of them. It was a straightforward enough answer, even if it was partially a lie. In truth, Angeline found happiness in watching Sydney and Adrian, although not for the reasons one might expect.

To others—even their friends who were full supporters of this relationship, so long as the two of them were happy—this kind of thing was exotic, taboo. Strange. Foreign. A miracle. Proof that love was a force which couldn't be defeated, not by family or ethics or even society as a whole.

But to Angeline...well, to Angeline, there was nothing special nor impressive about them at all. Yes, the strength of their love was admirable and unique. But if they were with the Keepers, Sydney and Adrian wouldn't _need_ to be so strongly devoted to each other to stay together. They wouldn't need to battle the rest of the world, or defend their feelings. They would be just another couple. And that was all they would be.

This was why every time Angeline caught sight of the pair, living in oblivion, she was reminded painfully of home.

And she was homesick.

She hated to admit it, hated to admit any kind of weakness, but it was true. As great as it was to be in a place where you could buy a cheeseburger that was made of an actual cow, or even one that you hadn't had to kill yourself, was wonderful. Even more wonderful was the beauty of electricity and indoor plumbing.

But there were times when Angeline couldn't help but ache for the simple—if somewhat barbaric—life that her family led. She missed her siblings, her parents. She missed Paulette a little bit—but mostly it was Paulette's bread that she missed. She missed her threadbare clothes. She missed the old campfire traditions. Hell, she even missed possum stew. Well, not so much the last one, but she found herself wishing for just a small bowlful of the marsupial soup on occasion.

Sydney and Adrian brought her comfort. They made it easy to pretend that home wasn't so far away. They brought a piece of Angeline's old life into her new one, creating a perfect balance. Maybe it wasn't exactly the easiest thing for the other two parties, but Angeline was fairly content.

"No, _you_ hang up."

Okay. So maybe there were some things that drove her nuts about the happy couple. The dhampir eyed Sydney's silly smile and turned to Jill. The two younger girls shared a look. Sydney's completely uncharacteristically saccharine moments were amusing for the first ten minutes or so, simply because it was _Sydney_, but after a while it got just as exasperating with her as it did with anyone else.

"I'm serious!" Sydney laughed. "You hang up!"

Jill groaned and buried her head under her pillow. Angeline would've envied her for having a pillow to block to noise if not for the fact that Jill actually had to _feel_ the mushiness, even if it was only second-hand.

"On the count of three," said Sydney. "One...two...three." There was a blissful pause. But then: "Hey! You didn't hang up! What? I _know_ I didn't hang up! But you didn't either so—"

"Allow me to save you a tiny scrap of your dignity," Angeline said. "You'll thank me for this later." Before Sydney could so much as guess what she was about to do, Angeline snatched the phone out of her hand and hung up, but not before saying, "Bye, Adrian," in the most sarcastic tone she could muster.

"Was I really that bad?" Sydney asked sheepishly.

"Yes," Angeline confirmed without hesitation. "In fact, probably about ten times worse than you think you were."

"If it's any consolation," Jill piped up, "Adrian is even worse than you, Sydney." He must have been, because the princess looked faintly green.

Oh yes, Angeline was quite glad she didn't have any mystical spirit bonds with anyone.

* * *

><p>When she found out that they were leaving, off to go a find a place among the humans where they could truly be free, Angeline was terrified. It was like losing home all over again, except this time there was no excitement to mask the fear. Those two were what kept her grounded when she yearned for the place she had been raised, the she could no longer return to. She had become too immersed in the outside world. She had become one of the Tainted.<p>

Angeline knew that she could visit Sydney and Adrian, just like the rest of their close-knit group of friends was planning to do. But it wasn't enough for her. Now that she had had the perfect balance of both worlds, she couldn't go back to just one and not the other. There was only one thing left to do.

"Take me with you," Angeline told them. She had said those words before to Rose, but there was no trace left of the pleading, unpolished girl in them this time. She was a guardian now. More serious and somber.

"But you're Jill's guardian," Sydney protested, out of more surprise than rejection which gave Angeline a bit of hope.

"I'm _one_ of Jill's guardians," she corrected her. "I can be reassigned. And it's not exactly like you guys have a waiting list of people dying to follow you into a life with humans to protect you."

"You think we're going to be attacked every five minutes out there?" Adrian asked critically.

"I think that if you run into danger you're going to wish I was there. The two of you combined won't _last_ five minutes." It wasn't completely true, but Angeline had no issue exaggerating a little bit. Just a little bit though.

Adrian smiled slightly and his eyes seemed to say, _T__ouché. _

Sydney, however, shook her head. "Where we're going? I can't imagine we'll run into anything more dangerous than a nosy neighbor, and I can take care of that kind of thing.

She had a very decent point there, but Angeline had one last argument left: "Who'll train your dhampir babies to be badass fighters?"

Sydney blushed deeply and Adrian laughed himself to tears.

"Now we _have_ to bring her," he said. "I love you, Sage, with all my heart, but this is the kind of backseat commentary I need in my life."

"Are you saying I'm not funny?"

"No, I'm just saying Angeline is a little bit funnier than you."

"What's the difference?" Sydney asked wryly. Adrian grinned at her. Then his grin faded into a dopey smile, as did Sydney's, and Angeline knew that if there was a Strigoi around, they would be done for. She took a moment to deliberate

Angeline coughed, interrupting the moment, too impatient to take offense to the comment. Hoping to sweeten the deal, she added, "I won't be living with you guys either. I already talked to Jill. She said she'll help me pay for a place of my own, close to wherever you two are staying, but not _with_ you. You won't have to worry about me intruding on your...uh, personal life."

Her words seemed only to further Adrian's excitement at the prospect of Angeline coming along, because he went right back to pitching Angeline's sale for her, and it looked like he was winning Sydney over faster than Angeline had been able to.

"It would be nice to have a little piece of our old life with us," he reminded Sydney, who nodded in agreement, and then Angeline knew that she would be tagging along. Ironic that they should think of her as a piece of their old life, considering that that was essentially the reason Angeline had initially wanted to go. Now she wanted to go because she was certain her friends wouldn't last an hour out on their own. In their happy, idealistic world they appeared oblivious to the danger, to the struggle. It was Angeline's duty to help them.

That and...well, their world didn't seem like a very bad one to live in.

Living in oblivion indeed.

* * *

><p>It's short, probably one of the shortest chapters in here. But hey, at least it's an update, right? :3<p> 


	24. Observations

Ack. Late. I'm late. Not as late as I've been, but still late... I've been wanting to do this for a while, but couldn't really figure out how until **Rimsa ****Carstairs **mentioned it in a review and then I was inspired. I sincerely hope this lived up to your expectations. I guess that, if the books go like I think they're actually going to go, my time-line is completely whacked. But whatever. I'm also using the fact that this one is in the future to explain away all OOC-ness. It's my default excuse since it's borderline impossible to argue with.

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Luckily, Bloodlines belongs to Richelle Mead, who's much better at this kind of thing than me.

* * *

><p><strong>Prompt Twenty-Four: Observations by The Raveonettes<strong>

_Flowers in the daytime and Lucifer at night_

_This woman said I'm torn between two lives_

* * *

><p>"You look beautiful," he said when he sat down next to her. She jumped in surprise. When Sydney processed both Adrian sitting across from her and his words, she fixed him with a warning look to which he smiled in response. "Just on observation," he told her. For a second, she thought he was drunk which wouldn't have been all that odd since they were at a wedding and all. But a closer glance told her that he was quite firmly in the world of sobriety—although the champagne glass in hand made Sydney wonder if he intended to stay that way.<p>

The lively music carried on in the background and people flew by them elegantly as they danced. It was beautiful, Sydney noted, although she knew she wouldn't put that in her report that she had to write for the Alchemists. On paper, that was why she was here. Seeing as she knew the bride, it made sense that she would be the one sent out to observe and document it. Unfortunately, the wedding caused so much emotion that it was hard to be objective, and Sydney knew that there was a lot she wouldn't put into the report.

For example, she would not add the fact that she had actually wanted to come be a bridesmaid so she could support her friend, not study some vampire who was only under observation because she had once been a Strigoi. Nor would she mention the way she inwardly reacted to the vampire beside her. Sydney looked around the greenhouse, hoping it might distract her. Or give her something that she could actually report.

The greenhouse really was huge, just as Sonya had said it was, with walls made of faintly tinted glass which revealed the plain white snow falling relentlessly outside. Yes, December had arrived, but its dead, hungry fingers could not touch anything inside the building. In fact, being inside the greenhouse was like being in an entirely different world, a world where everything was spilling over with raw life, colors and shapes and sizes all but divine to the eyes. Sydney thought that she would've found the sharp contrasts between the two placed side-by-side to be unnatural, nearly the same as vampire magic, but instead she found it poetic. Beautiful.

_You look beautiful_.

She cringed. They had agreed that saying that kind of thing was to be avoided at all costs. But he had slipped, and it had risen the tension between them to a new height.

"Uh-oh," Adrian said suddenly.

"What?" Sydney asked, suddenly worried that her report was going to end up filed under some kind of attack, although what the enemy might be was most certainly beyond her imagination. When she caught sight of who was coming, she almost found herself wishing that it was a Strigoi. That much, at this point, she could handle. But this? This was going to be unpleasant.

"You know, you two really shouldn't look so enthusiastic," Sonya said dryly. "It's not like this is a celebration or anything." She look stunning, truly queenly in her dress that was the same pure white as swan feathers. It was a simple enough dress for the most part, strapless and with a train that trailed across the floor gracefully, except for where the fabric had been artfully folded together into the shape of white flowers.

Sydney stood up and hugged her, smiling genuinely. "Congratulations," she said, because she was afraid that if she kept talking she would tear up again.

Adrian hugged Sonya as well. For once, there were no witty quips. Just a simple, honest smile. He turned his eyes to Sydney and the smile faltered slightly, matching the uneven beating of her heart. Clearly, they weren't being subtle enough in their awkwardness and Sonya crossed her arms, peering at the two of them with an intensity that would've been weird if not for the fact that Sydney knew what was going on. This, she thought to herself, was exactly what she hadn't been looking forward to.

The bride studied their auras with a knowingly stern look on her face, as if she chastising two children for being idiots. Which, in some ways, she kind of was.

"Stop sitting around," Sonya scolded them lightly. "Dance! Eat cake! Have fun! It's a wedding! It's _my_ wedding. I'm...married now." And then a wide smile broke across her face, like everything she'd ever dreamed of happening was falling into place before her eyes. Then she was pulled away by other loved ones and Sydney and Adrian were alone again, their silence somehow even more awkward now than it was before.

Then Adrian rose to his feet and held a hand out to Sydney. She stared at him blankly for a couple seconds and he shrugged helplessly.

Oh, she wanted to take his hand so badly that she could feel her own trembling. In the end, that was the ultimate problem. The temptation to break the rules Sydney had worked so hard to set up—and now worked even harder to _keep_ up—was painful. It was like resisting gravity, trying to resist him. But she was determined to make it a good fight.

Sydney looked up to politely refuse, but she saw the look in his eyes, the sardonically amused glimmer, and she couldn't even make an attempt to hide the wistfulness in hers. With that, the walls came crashing down and the Alchemist told herself that just tonight, despite that she was here to simply observe, despite that there were many people here to observe _them_, she could (she _would_) take his hand.

With the same barely restrained tenderness he often looked at her with, he pulled her to her feet and then to his chest. They didn't need to be this close to dance, Sydney kept thinking to herself, but she really, really liked it. It felt right.

They didn't really_ dance_ all that much, per se. It was the closeness that mattered, the closeness that she couldn't stand.

Sydney turned her eyes down to watch her dress spill around her like a shimmering waterfall of gold. Despite making her feel slightly silly for being so elaborately dressed, Sydney supposed there were worse bridesmaids dresses in the world.

"Bride's orders," she said with forced nonchalance. She was disorientingly close to him and coming up with anything more than that was simply too much work, but silence was even more unbearable.

"How can you say no to that face anyway?" Adrian asked wryly. Sydney couldn't help but smile. It was true. Sonya Karp-Tanner was a hard person to say no to. Considering that it was her wedding, it felt even more wrong to deny her anything. Her piercing stare from across the room was also a bit of encouragement.

They were careful to stay in the corner where they could be seen by fewer people, and there was an obvious strain between them. But there was nothing to be done about it. Just this one dance, Sydney told herself forcefully. You can make it through just this one dance.

That was all she would allow herself.

And at the end of the dance, they would pull apart. They would put the proper amount of space between them, so that the people watching them would quit their intrusive staring. But away from the crowds and prying eyes, he would call her beautiful in whispers brushed across bare skin, and she would take his hand without debate or hesitation. He wouldn't stare down at her with longing, because he was free to kiss her as often as he wanted to. There were no secrets when they were alone.

"I love you," she would tell him frequently, as if making up for all the times she couldn't.

"I love you, too," he always replied, because even when she didn't say it, he knew she thought it and that was good enough for him.

Away from those who would observe with disdain, they danced together in peace and dreamed of a day like this that would be theirs.

* * *

><p>The amount of melodramatic angstcorniness I put into that makes me wonder if I've been watching too much of _The_ _Vampire Diaries_. I have almost all of the next chapter written (it's even more depressing than this one), but I need to steal my copy of _The Golden Lily_ back from my mom...


End file.
